Critique of Korean Multiculturalism as Viewed through Gendered Transnational Migration in Asia: The Case of Vietnamese Returnee Marriage Migrants

Abstract

This article analyzes returnees from marriage migration by focusing on Vietnamese women from Cần Thơ and Hai Phòng who have been to South Korea for marriage migration. In contrast to prevalent concerns in South Korea about the possibility of child abduction by Vietnamese mothers/divorcees, the author found many deserted Korean Vietnamese children and their mothers in Vietnam through this research. There is also a growing number of Vietnamese return marriage migrants, women who came back to South Korea after their first divorce and return to Vietnam. The article emphasizes the complexities and multidirectional trajectories of marriage migration and highlights the agency of female migrants, whose contribution to family welfare and to development is often overshadowed by their status within the family.