Complicit mobility: Southeast Asian students in Korean Studies and their inter-Asia knowledge migrations

Abstract

This study examines the knowledge migrations of Southeast Asian students to South Korean universities with the purpose of pursuing postgraduate degrees in the discipline of Korean Studies. By deploying an ethnographic approach, this study illuminates their academic processes of becoming academics in Korean Studies – from sponsored students in South Korea to professors in their home countries. In order to conceptualise their inter-Asian knowledge migrations, we suggest the term ‘complicit mobility’, which illuminates the strategic choices of these Southeast Asian students, their adjusted aspirations in choosing Korean Studies as their majors, as well as their negotiated collaboration with the Korean Government, institutes and personnel.