Transnational Migration of Koreans to the New York Metropolitan Area: Perspectives on Residential Location and Relationship with Koreatowns

Abstract

This study explores the behavior of transnational migrants in a global city-in this case, Koreatowns in the New York metropolitan area. Global changes in postwar capitalism and US immigration policies attracted various Korean migrant groups to the New York metropolitan area. These can be classified as old-timers, who migrated before or during the 1980s in the hope of securing permanent residency, and newcomers-relatively young and highly educated professionals who have migrated since the 1990s. Old-timers typically relocate to the suburbs via ethnic enclaves, on which they are strongly reliant. In contrast, newcomers are dispersed across the metropolitan area, sometimes visiting Koreatown as a node of the ethnic human network or for Korean-style service. These distinctive behaviors mean that migrant characteristics change with the economic growth of emerging countries, in turn changing the urban space of global cities.