Nobody remembers the losers : the story of Korean agricultural emigration to South America

Abstract

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the official Korean immigration in South America. The beginning of this vibrant overseas Korean community was humble. The first group of 17 families travelled to Brazil to work in agriculture, and more Koreans with similar intentions followed suit to Brazil and other South American countries. Contrary to popular belief, early Korean agricultural emigration to South America was mainly organised and executed by interested individuals, emigration agents, private emigration agencies and even the Catholic Church. The intervention of the Korean government at this stage was minimal; only in mid-1970s, the Korean government too threw its hat in the ring of overseas agricultural migration. The government's participation lasted only a decade, during which five rural smallholdings were established in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile. Whether privately organised or run by the Korean government, agricultural emigration to South America is widely known as a fiasco - money and time were wasted without any substantial outcome. However, it has rarely been asked why Korea needed an overseas agricultural migration in the first instance, who were behind the project, what the project was about and what happened to the migrants. This research is about the Korean agricultural emigration to South America. In this study I present the origins, development and demise of the Korean agricultural emigration to South America between 1960s and 1980s. This work draws information not only from existing literature and government materials but also from the experience of real and ordinary people who migrated to South America through the project over the years, in a hope to give voice to those who have been forgotten for decades. Show more