The Korean Diaspora in Postwar Japan: Geopolitics, Identity and Nation-Building

by Coven/Pitrelli/Reilly

Overview

The Korean diaspora living in Japan - the Zainichi - represent the only Korean migrant group that has not been granted citizenship by its host state. Yet despite being Korean nationals, with legal rights of abode in Korea, the Zainichi are culturally Japanese and have no intention of returning to their now divided homeland. The indistinct status of the Zainichi has meant that, since the late 1940s, two ethnic Korean associations, the Chongryun (pro-North) and the Mindan (pro-South) have been vying for political loyalty from the Zainichi, with both groups initially opposing their assimilation in Japan. Unlike the Korean diasporas living in Russia, China or the US, the Zainichi have become sharply divided along political lines as a result. Myung Ja Kim examines Japan's changing national policies towards the Zainichi in order to understand why this group has not been fully integrated into Japan. Through the prism of this ethnically Korean community, the book reveals the dynamics of alliances and alignments in East Asia, including the rise of China as an economic superpower, the security threat posed by North Korea and the diminishing alliance between Japan and the US. Taking a post-war historical perspective, the research reveals why the Zainichi are vital to Japan's state policy revisionist aims to increase its power internationally and how they were used to increase the country's geopolitical leverage. With a focus on International Relations, this book provides an important analysis of the mechanisms that lie behind nation-building policy, showing the conditions controlling a host state's treatment of diasporic groups.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781784537678
Publisher:	I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd
Publication date:	07/31/2017
Series:	International Library of Twentieth Century History Series
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.75(h) x (d)

About the Author

Myung Ja Kim is currently a Teaching Fellow in Northeast Asian Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. She completed her PhD at the Politics Department at SOAS where she received the Meiji Jingu Scholarship Award. Her MA in International Affairs was completed at the School of International Service, American University in Washington DC. She has been a guest lecturer in Korean Studies at Tübingen University and has published in the Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs. She founded and was President of the NGO, World Tonpo Network, Tokyo, an organization that seeks the peaceful unification of North and South Korea.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations vii

Acknowledgements viii

List of Abbreviations ix

Introduction 1

The Puzzle: Contradictory Identities within the Zainichi Diaspora 1

Korean Migration in Japan: Becoming Zainichi 10

The Relationship between Diaspora and Nation State 14

Primordialist Perspectives on Nation 17

Constructivist Views on Nation 21

Modernization Vision on Nation-Building 24

Geopolitics, Making Nation-Building Policies and the Zainichi Diaspora 25

1 Alliance Cohesion, Diaspora and Nation-Building Policies 30

Nation-Building Policies via Interstate Relations 31

Diaspora and Divided External Powers 33

State Capacity and Variations of Power Configurations under Asymmetric Alliances 36

Diaspora as an Alternative to Nation State 39

External involvement vs Domestic Politics 41

Possible Causal Pathways 43

Research Design 46

2 The Zainichi Diaspora: From the Shadow of Japan's Colonial Legacy 51

Introduction 51

The Annexation of Korea 54

Korea's Response to Japanese Colonization Policies 59

Imperialism under the Slogan 'Japan and Korean as One Body' 63

The Legacy of Japanese Colonization 68

3 No Alliance and a Strong Historical Legacy: Exclusionary Policies towards the Zainichi in the Post-World War II Era (1945-64) 73

Introduction 73

The Korean War and the US-ROK Alliance 79

The San Francisco Peace Treaty and the US-Japan Alliance 89

Exclusionary Policy toward the Zainichi in The Post-World War II Era (1945-64) 98

Conclusion 112

4 Alliance Cohesion Matters: Japan's Policy towards the Zainichi during the Cold War Era (1965-80s) 115

Introduction 115

Empirics: Alliance Cohesion as a Causal Factor in Japan's Policy towards the Zainichi Diaspora in the Cold War Era (1965-80s) 118

Conclusion 160

5 Does Alliance Cohesion Still Matter in the New Post-Cold War (1990-2014)? 162

Introduction 162

The Post-Cold War Era (1990-2014) 166

Conclusion 202

Conclusion 209

Geopolitics and Shifting Policies towards the Zainichi Diaspora 209

Factors Identified by the Zainichi Diaspora Case Study 211

Accommodation Policies towards Divided Diaspora Groups and Variation in Outcomes 214

Policy Implications 217

Notes 224

Bibliography 254

Index 271