Publications

(2025) Repositioning southern cities in transnational city networks: the case of South Korea-Vietnam sister cities. Urban Geography, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2025.2528845

Abstract: This study challenges conventional discourses on North-South urban hierarchies by arguing for the repositioning of cities from the Global South in transnational city networks. Drawing on the case of South Korea-Vietnam sister cities, the findings highlight the role of Vietnamese cities in sister-city partnerships with their Korean counterparts. These roles are manifested in their tacit participation in transnational placemaking, unorthodox negotiations to mitigate inevitable capital incompatibilities, and evolving “worlding” infrastructure that corresponds to their internationalization efforts. This study proposes the incorporation of localized knowledge to elaborate on Southern experiences and highlights the juxtaposition of contemporary critical Northern transformations in the analysis of North-South partnerships. This inter-Asian analysis contributes a novel exploration of the “worlding” of small Asian cities, a position that, although not entirely new, has been largely overlooked in urban scholarship centered on global cities and the West.

Keywords: sister cities; inter-city networks; inter-Asia; South Korea; Vietnam

With Yilsoon Paek and Weejun Park (2025) Migration Infrastructure and Education Migration Brokers: Focusing on the Agency for Studying Abroad in Vietnam. Journal of the Korean Geographical Society, 60(4), 482-503. https://doi.org/10.22776/kgs.2025.60.4.482

Abstract: This study aims to highlight the lack of expanded discussion on the concept of migration infrastructure in Korea, despite its conceptual usefulness, and to re-examine the significance of approaching migration phenomena through the lens of migration infrastructure. From this perspective, ‘studying abroad’ is driven by the connectivity of infrastructures related to migration in both the home and host countries, and even after migration, migrants continue to rely on these infrastructures for adaptation and settlement. Unlike actor-centered interpretations that focus on individual choices and motivations, this approach demonstrates that migration pathways are differentiated according to the various types of migration infrastructure available. To support this argument, this study analyzes interviews with Vietnamese students studying in Korea to examine how agencies for studying abroad in Vietnam have evolved into migration infrastructures connecting Vietnam and Korea. The analysis reveals that these agencies function as key migration infrastructures, responding sensitively to the policies of both countries and playing a decisive role in building diverse networks to maintain smooth relations. This research is significant as it is the first study on Vietnamese study-abroad agencies and attempts to expand the conceptual framework of migration infrastructure.

Keywords: migration infrastructure; education‐migration brokers; commercial bias; Vietnam agency for studying abroad; international student

(2025) ‘I know more Korean than the brides’: migrant categorisations and intra-group heterogeneity within the Vietnamese community in South Korea. Asian Ethnicity, 26(1), 155-173. https://doi.org/10.1080/14631369.2024.2379438

Abstract: This paper examines the representative and performative aspects of the legal title ‘marriage migrant’, which surrounds the everyday lives of Vietnamese women who married South Korean men. While previous studies have predominantly addressed how categorisation by receiving states reproduces certain identities and treatments for those on the move, little is known about how it influences migrants’ behaviour. Drawn on observations and in-depth interviews with Vietnamese women married to South Korean men, this paper demonstrates that the category ‘marriage migrant’ not only carries gendered and socioeconomic hierarchised identities but further shapes Vietnamese women’s actions in response to those responsibilities and classifications. The research findings emphasise how categorisation and discourse reconfigure ethnic networks at the intersection of gender, class, and mobility. This study offers a nuanced understanding of intra-group dynamics within migrant communities, highlighting the implications of migrant agencies in categorising politics.

Keywords: categorisation, marriage migrant, intra-group heterogeneity, Vietnam, South Korea

With Haeran Shin (2024) Transnational marriage networks for intra-Asian circuit of mobilities, investment and development: Vietnamese marriage migrant women’s investments in Vietnam. International Development Planning Review, 46(1), 67-88. https://doi.org/10.3828/idpr.2022.13

Abstract: This paper introduces the case of marriage migration into the debate on the intra-Asian circuit of capital flow, human mobilities and urban and regional development. While intra-Asian marriage migration lies at the intersection of governmental policy, increased capital flow and human mobilities, it has been absent from the discussion on capital flows within the global East. Employing ethnographic research methods, we explain how Vietnamese marriage migrants in South Korea and their Korean husbands restyled their remittances to invest in land and businesses in hometowns, the Mekong Delta area and big cities through transnational marriage networks. Explanations for what caused marriage migrants’ position to evolve include a discussion of macro-politics of political and economic reforms in South Korea and Vietnam and the micro-politics of transnational networks. By demonstrating the roles of transnational marriage networks, this research contributes to the debates on migration-development-mobility circuit.

Keywords: foreign direct investment, marriage migrant women, Vietnam, South Korea, transnational ethnic networks, mobilities, regional development, businesses

With Jurak Kim and Kwon Heo (2024) Making of Vietnamese food in Seoul: forms of capital and the intra-diversity in framing taste and menu. Food, Culture & Society, 27(3), 810-827. https://doi.org/10.1080/15528014.2023.2176991

Abstract: This study explores the intra-diversity in the taste and menu items of Vietnamese food served in Vietnamese restaurants in Seoul, South Korea. Acknowledging the calls for the inclusion of immigrant producers in theoretical discussions of taste, we utilized mixed ethnographic research methods including participant observation and in-depth interviews with Vietnamese immigrant restaurateurs. Employing the forms-of-capital approach, our study shows how each immigrant utilizes their human-cultural, social, and economic resources in deciding their food menus and devising their food flavors. We found that, based on their sets of capital, each immigrant develops their own strategies in presenting Vietnamese food to their targeted customers. Our study highlights the intra-group diversity of ethnic entrepreneurship as well as the link between immigrants and members of the host society in ethnic businesses.

Keywords: ethnic restaurant, ethnic food, forms-of-capital, authenticity, intra-group diversity

With Jurak Kim and Kwon Heo (2023) Spatial Expansion of Ethnic Entrepreneurship: The Case of Vietnamese Immigrant-owned Restaurants in Seoul. Asia Review, 13(2), 59-81. https://doi.org/10.24987/SNUACAR.2023.8.13.2.59

Abstract: This study explores the location choices of Vietnamese immigrant restaurateurs who opened their first businesses beyond their ethnic bubbles in Seoul. Our study found that many Vietnamese immigrants chose neither ethnic nor poor neighbourhoods for their very first restaurant businesses in Seoul. We argue that these Vietnamese restaurant owners have successfully adapted to the local society through a range of experiences, including education, employment, and marriage. As a result, they are able to exercise freedom in choosing the location for their businesses. We demonstrate that the extensive exchanges in terms of people, culture, and economics between the two countries establish a solid foundation for the flourishing of ethnic entrepreneurship. Hence, we encourage future studies to look further into the emerging structures and forces, including the role of the bilateral relations between immigrant sending and receiving societies in shaping contemporary ethnic entrepreneurship.

Keywords: location choice, ethnic entrepreneurship, ethnic restaurant, Vietnamese restaurant, Vietnam, South Korea

With Suh-hee Choi and Yil-soon Paek (2023) Characteristics of Foreign Migrants’ Mobility Capital and Network Capital: The Case of Vietnamese Migrants in South Korea. Journal of the Korean Geographical Society, 58(3), 217-235. https://doi.org/10.22776/kgs.2023.58.3.217

Abstract: This study aims to examine the characteristics of mobility capital and network capital experienced and utilized by Vietnamese migrants in Korea. The concept of mobility capital has emerged to refer to the capital that facilitates individuals’ (im)mobility temporally and spatially based on the available resources. Network capital refers to the social capital that facilitates individuals to form, maintain, and utilize interpersonal networks while communication technologies and transportation can mediate its enhancement. Based on the synthesis of the extant research on these two concepts, a survey (n=204) was conducted to explore the mobility capital and network capital of Vietnamese migrants living in Korea. The results show that Vietnamese migrants’ mobility capital differs by marital status. Furthermore, the length of residence and income were not significant factors in shaping Vietnamese migrants’ mobility capital and network capital. On the other hand, Vietnamese migrants’ Korean language proficiency, car ownership, and region of residence were identified as important variables. This study concludes that it is rather the mobility environment in the receiving country as well as individuals’ social capital that enhances the utilization of the favorable mobility environment than the duration of stay in the receiving country that affects the mobility capital and network capital of foreign migrants.

Keywords: mobility capital, mobility accessibility, network capital, Vietnamese, migrants

(2022) The marriage migration regime of Vietnamese women in South Korea: evolving roles of governments, matchmakers, and migrants. Asia Review, 12(1), 421-452. https://doi.org/10.24987/SNUACAR.2022.4.12.1.421

Abstract: Recent studies have clamored for measures to avoid the victimization of women in marriage migration. Thus, an important question entails how to consider marriage migrant women and their decision-making while acknowledging the current settings for international marriage between Vietnamese women and South Korean men. The present research establishes the following findings based on participant observation and in-depth interviews with Vietnamese marriage migrant women (including candidates) in South Korea and Vietnam. First, this study uncovers how governments, matchmakers, and migrants informally interact, form, and reform the marriage migration regime. In particular, this study focuses on how illegal marriage matchmakers take part in the regime and how they exploit marriage migrants owing to tightening immigration policies. Second, this study highlights the role of ethnic networks in the decision-making of marriage migrants. Thus, the discussion challenges the meaning of active governmental policies vis-à-vis the domination of illegal matchmakers. This study contributes to the literature on international migration by discussing the intermediate mechanism of marriage matchmakers and considering the agencies of marriage migrants.

Keywords: marriage migrant women, marriage migration, regime, South Korea, Vietnam

(2022) Place-Making of Vietnamese Married Immigrant Women in South Korea: The Case of Vietnamese Language Classes for Multicultural Children. Space and Environment, 32(1), 166-193. https://doi.org/10.19097/kaser.2022.32.1.166

Abstract: This article explores the place-making of Vietnamese married immigrant women in South Korea through Vietnamese language classes for multicultural children. Utilizing mixed qualitative research methods, including participant observation and narrative interviews, the study presents several findings. The paper first contends that Vietnamese language classes constitute one kind of place-making for Vietnamese married immigrant women and explores the meaning of place-making among these women. Accordingly, these women face certain barriers in performing place-making, as their gender roles as foreign wives and mothers are deeply embedded in the discourse of the host society. Thus, it leads to the desire to engage in place-making in a form as simple as speaking their language, along with their engagement with Vietnamese language classes for their children. This study contributes to the feminist discussion as well as place-making discussion by combining gender, race, and ethnicity in the consideration. Keywords:married immigrant women, place-making, marriage migration, Vietnam, South Korea.

Keywords: married migrant women, place-making, marriage migration, South Korea, Vietnam