Uri nara, our nation: Unification, identity and the emergence of a new nationalism amongst South Korean young people

Abstract

This research project investigates the growing ambivalence and antagonism of South Korean young people toward unification with North Korea. Historically, ideas of nation and identity, and thus unification, have been based upon the ethnic and cultural homogeneity of all Korean people. More recently, there has emerged a new type of nationalism based on strikingly different notions of identity. This work addresses the central puzzle of how long-held views of Korean nation and national identity have been challenged so dramatically in recent years – in particular amongst the young. Using data obtained from over 90 interviews, surveys and other documentary evidence collected in the field, I show how negativity toward unification with North Korea is increasing and argue that a new South Korean nationalism has arisen amongst South Korea’s young people. This new nationalism is demonstrated both by the changing attitudes to unification and North Korea and by a growing sense of national pride and confidence in South Korea. The new nationalism can be described as a globalised-cultural nationalism, reflecting the central role played by globalisation in its construction and expression. This work contests the assumption that unification ‘is the hope of all Koreans’ and the inevitable outcome for the Korean peninsula. It contributes to understanding short-term challenges as more North Koreans move to the South and provides insights into longer-term preparations for possible reunification. From a theoretical perspective, this thesis builds upon existing nationalist literature by exploring the development of nationalism in established nations, and describing the importance and role of globalisation in the evolution of modern nationalist sentiment.