This talk examines the history of Korean migration to Paraguay and the emergence of a distinctive diasporic identity known as coreguayo, a term combining coreano (Korean) and paraguayo (Paraguayan). Beginning with the first wave of state-sponsored agricultural migration in 1965, Lee trace how a small Korean community took shape in a South American country that has received little attention in Korea diaspora studies. Drawing on archival materials, local Korean and Paraguayan newspapers, and forty-six interviews, the talk highlights three historical moments that reshaped the community: the failure of early agricultural settlements, the expansion of urban commerce during the economic boom of the 1980s, and the economic crisis and mass out-migration of the late 1990s. Although Korean immigrants gained economic visibility through commerce, they also experienced social marginalization and developed tightly knit ethnic institution that both sustained and constrained community life. Following the sharp population decline after the economic crisis, 1.5 - and second-generation Koreans came of age in a context of demographic contraction rather growth. Through higher education, professional careers, and increased interaction with Paraguayan society, many began to articulate a hybrid sense of belongings as coreguayos. Rather than emerging simply from cultural mixing, this identity developed in response to historical disruption, limited institutional support, and life in a small and shrinking diaspora. By focusing on Koreans in Paraguay, this talk expands understandings of Korean migration beyond well-studied destinations and highlights how diaspora identities are shaped not only by opportunity and success, but also by instability, loss, and adaptation.
Jaein Josefina Lee is a lecturer on education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research examines migration, identity, and the institutional conditions shaping access to educational and social opportunities, with particular attention to marginalized youth. Drawing on historical, qualitative, and participatory methods, her work examines student agency and racial and ethnic inequality in the context of migration and education.
This is part of the "Koreans in the World" project hosted by UCLA's Center for Korean Studies. This event is supported by the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS Award Number: AKS-2023-SRI-2200001) as part of its Strategic Research Institute Program for Korean Studies.