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On the Korean Diaspora

The Korean Diaspora... This is the general, all-encompassing term for those Koreans who have left their homelands and live abroad, whether that be in America, China, or, in some cases, it can even refer to those North Koreans who moved to or were displaced to South Korea and vice versa.

So, why is this important? And if you want to learn more about it, where should you turn?

An unsuspecting answer is... *drumroll please* theatre!

PublicTheaterNY. “WILD GOOSE DREAMS Montage | The Public Theater”  YouTubeVideo, 0:55, 2018. https://youtu.be/e-KqHPUQV0g.

Wild Goose Dreams (2017) is a play written by Hansol Jung, and it was first performed in 2017 at La Jolla Playhouse, California. While it is not her most famous production, Wild Goose Dreams is one of many plays that reflects the struggles of those involved with the current-day Korean Diaspora.

What's it all about?

Hansol Jung’s play follows the story of two companionless and increasingly despondent individuals involved in the Korean diaspora. Guk Minsung, a “goose father” who has sent his wife and daughter to America while continuing to work to support them while he, himself, stays in South Korea, has grown tremendously lonely and disconnected from his loved ones abroad.

Explanation of Terms: Minsung is a working man or “goose father” for what is referred to as a “wild goose family”. These families have become increasingly common in Korean society since the middle of the 1990s, in which the mother and child move abroad for the child’s education or other reasons and the father stays in Korea to support them financially. Originally, the term “goose” was given to these families and fathers not only because geese are migratory birds, but also because geese are known as “very devoted bird sacrificing oneself for children.” Kyounghee Kim, “Change and Challenge of Korean Family in the Era of Globalization: Centering Transnational Families,” Journal of Ritsumeikan Social Sciences and Humanities 1, 2009, 169. https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/acd/re/k-rsc/hss/book/pdf/vol01_10.pdf.

Yoo Nanhee, a defector from North Korea, is also lonely being away from her family and is becoming uncertain if her decision to leave her home behind was the morally right thing for her to do. One day while swiping through a mobile dating app (like many of the rest of us lonely souls), these two connect and form a "relationship" thanks to the communication ability and accessibility of modern technology. 

Nanhee ignores the large red flag of herself assisting Minsung in engaging in an affair, and the two continue to see each other on occasion to relieve their feelings of loneliness (even as Nanhee begins to have hallucinations of her father and a penguin in the toilet during their sexual interactions. Yeah, that one threw me for a loop too). Through each other the pair search for meaning in their lonely identities and seek connection and understanding.

However, as Nanhee is more convinced by her illusions and a deal gone wrong to contact her family in North Korea, she flees back to North Korea. At the same time, Minsung’s wife in America informs him that she will be marrying another man, and his daughter cuts contact with him on social media. The play ends with Minsung writing a song for Nanhee, gaining brief internet celebrity, and then committing suicide just before Nanhee returns to South Korea and is detained as a defector.

And how's this supposed to help me understand the Korean Diaspora?

So glad you asked! Or didn't. But if you've read this far, you might as well stick around for the important stuff, right?

In Hansol Jung's play, the struggles of Nanhee and Minsung reflect those of many in the Korean Diaspora. She reveals these conflicts through a majority of ongoing themes that question the importance of family in the modern era, the feelings of disconnection with others brought about by technology, and the pondering of one’s own identity and desires when the world around one’s self is changing.

One of the areas she makes the largest commentary on is the impact of technology and social media on daily lives of not just those wishing to connect with their loved ones, but also just individuals in general.

PublicTheaterNY. “Hansol Jung and Leigh Silverman Explore Korea and Humanizing the Internet | WILD GOOSE DREAMS.”  YouTube Video, 02:17, 2018. https://youtu.be/bubo1Tx_yfM.

"Despite the internet connecting all aspects of the world, technology can make individuals feel even more isolated than they might without it."

In the age of technology, it is easier than ever before to talk with and connect to loved ones abroad and ease loneliness with the company of strangers. However, the reality of this is not always so simple. Minsung’s daughter blocks him on social media, and his wife won't talk to him. He's only able to see his family’s lives through pictures on posts. Nanhee struggles with finding connections through technology. Did the phone she sent through a broker to her father really reach him? Was it truly her father she spoke with? Would she ever be able to truly connect with her family again?

Both of the characters try to connect with their families through technology and fail to do so, which is when they use technology to have a relationship with each other.

The scenes and portrayals of technology and the internet make it clear to the audience that technology hasn’t helped either of these characters involved with the Korean Diaspora with their loneliness. Arguably, 「having technology may have made their disconnection more obvious and negatively influential on their mental states」. Not only that, but the judgment of individuals online can be irrevocably damaging to one’s mental health and public image.

In Minsung’s case, he not only lost his family and lover but, as a goose father, he also lost his identity. While the encouragement and brief period of fame he received from the internet gave him another identity as an internet celebrity for a brief moment, this sense of belonging was temporary and the loss of it was fatal. Thus, while technology can be used to connect people, it can also make them realize disconnect more harshly.

Despite internet users being able to talk to and about each other, their words and attention are also temporary and isolating.

Even if users feel different and unreal when they're anonymous or physically far away, the impact of their words is very real.

RE: theatre. “RE: Hansol Jung.” YouTube Video, 25:33, 1 November 2018. https://youtu.be/3Oie8nlUQc4.

Another important point that Jung makes is that

"The reality of those involved in the Korean Diaspora is often not all sunshine and rainbows and reaching one's dreams abroad."

For Minsung:

For instance, in 2014, there were a number of "goose fathers" who committed suicide. I'm sure many of your instinctive reactions were "oh, that's awful!" Yet, popular responses to actual goose father suicides in South Korea were "to blame the father for being too sentimental and weak" (Hassig, 2013). That's quite the difference in reactions! Yet, many individuals do not understand the impact of moving abroad or having loved ones living away from home.

Jung's play highlights this problem with Minsung's own suicide. The loneliness and pressure of being a primary supporter of a family he doesn't even see becomes too much for him, especially after the loss of his loosely defined "friendship" in Nanhee. Another important part of Minsung's suicide is the fame leading up to it. Minsung's sorrows and problems are only noticed once they go viral online, quickly to be forgotten until news of his demise brings them back up.

For Nanhee:

In Nanhee's case, as a defector from North Korea, she is constantly struggling with the fact that she left her family behind to pursue her own success and happiness. Yet, once she has found her peace and returns once again to South Korea to seek out Minsung, she is detained by authorities for crossing the border and being a possible spy. The commentary Jung gives through Nanhee highlights two main questions.

Some scholars might question if North Koreans who move from North Korea are truly a part of the Korean Diaspora, but I believe Nanhee's struggles with her identity abroad show she is just as impacted by moving from her homeland to South Korea as any other Korean immigrant.

A large number of North Koreans are detained or welcomed to South Korea each year, largely based on political agendas and popular support. As seen in Nanhee's case, these individuals titled as "defectors" already have large problems with their personal identities, and their changing social status based on political and social desires likely does not help the disconnect that they feel.

For more on Question 2, see: Lankov, Andrei. “Bitter Taste of Paradise: North Korean Refugees in South Korea.” Journal of East Asian Studies 6, no. 1 (2006): 105–37. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23418172.

Nanhee's problems are similar to those that North Korean immigrants face in reality as well. In order to relate to these individuals and fix these problems, one must understand that the hardships these people face exist and are not as far-away or fictional as you might believe.

Why now?

What's so important about this play? Why should you care about the Korean Diaspora?

Well, that's a lot of questions packed into a smaller package, but the main reason why is that these problems are contemporarily relevant.

Firstly, both North and South Korea are internationally relevant countries in many various ways: They are military, social, and economic powers. Also, South Korea is incredibly well-known and appreciated for its pop culture, such as K-pop, K-dramas, and video games.

Secondly, many of those in the Korean Diaspora immigrated to America, the land made up of immigrants. Yet, these individuals face social and political struggles that have nothing to do with the disconnect and cultural shock they naturally experience from their relocation. In order to better connect with and help these immigrants and their descendants settle in America, and for these individuals to find their own place, there must be a place for them in the country they migrated to. Even more importantly, they need to know that there is a place for them. The disconnect Nanhee feels is because she is without her family, and she feels lost in a society that should be similar to hers but is incredibly alien instead. Minsung, like many other goose fathers, gives in under the pressure of loneliness from being away from his family and commits suicide.

There are other reasons the Korean Diaspora is of import, of course, such as social, political, economic, and cultural exchanges... and even just concepts of human rights, racial and social movements for equality and acceptance... but the main idea of this play in this moment and this time is that the world has become a technological one. 「With technology can come global communication, but it can also bring loneliness, disconnect, and hatefulness that lead to deaths like Minsung's」.

Yet, just as technology can bring an individual, a group, or a people down, it can also lift them up. Making use of technology to connect with people you've never met and those who wish to see every day can make large impacts on the world and how individuals understand each other.

This play illuminates this message and uses it to highlight the argument that technology and the Korean Diaspora are now heavily intertwined.

Through technology, people can become connected and understandings can be reached that were impossible previously. That's why individuals should now pay attention to these topics, and that's also why this specific play, with its technology-focus and commentary on the Korean Diaspora, is incredibly relevant in today's society.

Resources:

For a casual, secondary research-based approach to this topic, see:

Want to learn more? Here's some recommended reviews and articles:

Aucoin, Don. “Connection and Disconnection in 'Wild Goose Dreams'.” Boston Globe, Mar 24, 2023.

Foster, Elizabeth. “'Wild Goose Dreams' Inspires Flight at Boston's SpeakEasy Stage - the Tufts Daily.” University Wire, Mar 30, 2023.

Greene, Gabriel. “Introduction to Wild Goose Dreams: An Interview with Hansol Jung, Leigh Silverman and Paul Castles.” TheatreForum no. 52 (2017): 51-53.

Kang, Jin Woong. “Human Rights and Refugee Status of the North Korean Diaspora.” North Korean Review 9, no. 2 (2013): 4–17. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43908916. 

Kim, Sung Kyung. “‘Defector,’ ‘Refugee,’ or ‘Migrant’? North Korean Settlers in South Korea’s Changing Social Discourse.” North Korean Review 8, no. 2 (2012): 94–110. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43910315.

Ko, Sung Ho, Kiseon Chung, and Yoo-seok Oh. “North Korean Defectors: Their Life and Well-being After Defection.” Asian Perspective 28, no. 2 (2004): 65–99. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42704454.

Teeman, Tim. “Click here for Sex, Love, and Tragedy in ‘Wild Goose Dreams’: The Whimsicaland Beautifully Designed ‘Wild Goose Dreams’ at the Public Theater Looks at all the Bizarre connections—and Tragic disconnection—the Internet can Bring.” The Newsweek/Daily Beast Company LLC, 15 November 2018. https://www.thedailybeast.com/click-here-for-sex-love-and-tragedy-in-wild-goose-dreams.

Yoon In-Jin. “North Korean Diaspora: North Korean Defectors Abroad and in South Korea.” Development and Society 30, no. 1 (2001): 1–26. http://www.jstor.org/stable/deveandsoci.30.1.1. 

Yuh, Ji-Yeon. “Moved by War: Migration, Diaspora, and the Korean War.” Journal of Asian American Studies 8, no. 3 (2005): 277-291. https://doi.org/10.1353/jaas.2005.0054.

Works Cited and/or Discussed in this blog post:

Primary:

Jung, Hansol. Wild Goose Dreams. TheatreForum no. 52 (2017): 54-78.

Secondary:

Hassig, Kongdan Oh. “Korea’s Chances in the 21st Century: The Story Continues.” Institute for Defense Analyses, 2013. http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep36448. 

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What's a Flower Person?

A "flower person", as a personal metaphor of mine, is an individual who survived mandatory history classes but didn't actually learn much about historical scholarship. They bloomed, and they're beautiful as all people can be, but their stems are of varying levels of toughness. Are their stems enough to keep them standing, just as society wanted them to be? For a number of them, sure, but others, not so much. Some of these individuals grew large flowers of historical knowledge, but they lack understanding on how to apply that knowledge to everyday tasks. They never learned about the cultural and social aspects that led to those dates they memorized. They were taught that all history is about is memorizing when and what happened in the past. As far as I know, that isn't what historical study is about, and it isn't why studying history is important.

A "flower person", as I was, many years ago when I was determined to be a science major --- despite finding the sciences too easy and, while intriguing to a point, growing increasingly lackadaisical in my studies --- might think that there is no point in teaching or studying history. They might believe the historical field is like a fish on a dock, or one trapping amongst an oil pond, practically swimming dead in the water. 'Studying the past to not make the same mistakes in the future' is a wonderful idea, but the concept seems flimsy and unimportant compared to high-education, high-pay, and high-exhausting areas like neuroscience, nuclear physics, or general surgeon-ing.

A "flower person", as I like to call it, has a pretty, intelligent head, but lacks an in-depth understanding of what makes the historical field so important. And, frankly, what makes scholarship and academic study in general so important. A "flower person" never thought to study or examine what they learned so tortuously in common education deeply enough to grow into a tree with wide-reaching roots that can sustain itself for generations to come. For most of these "flower people", they never had a chance to.

To put this in more simple terms, as this is a blog for the common, everyday joe who doesn't have time nor care to read a bunch of flowery language --- (did ya get the pun there?) --- as so many people like to say, common education has failed you. In so many ways. And this blog is about why historical study is actually important. And how. And if you don't really agree with that or just stopped by because you like history in general, there's some fun facts and discussions of scholarly topics too. Mostly in layman's terms. Because it gets really tiring writing concisely and like I know what I'm talking about when sometimes no one knows what we're talking about and we're just trying to make things work with the information we have.

So yeah. Hi! And welcome to the historical garden for all of those "flower people" out there. So happy to meet other people like me, and hopefully we can all grow as individuals through the study of history together : )