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Abstract

Introduction

This paper will provide a comparative analysis of the church in identity formation of Koryo

Saram communities in Central Asia and South Korea. The church is both a medium of homeland

soft power, but also its own actor in diasporic national consciousness. The church activates

diasporic consciousness through the basis of difference. It draws its ability to unify from the

collective memory of the "last" homeland, be that Korea in Central Asia or the former Soviet

Union in South Korea. This paper will explore the implications of this diasporic identity

negotiation in terms of soft power, long-distance nationalism, and immigration.

Methodology

This paper will rely primarily on the oral testimony of several key informants involved in the

formation of Koryo churches in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and South Korea. These

informants are pastors, missionaries, and leaders of Koryo churches. Informants are identified

through convenience sampling from the two biggest Koryo Saram communities by population in

Korea: Ansan and Incheon. The oral histories will serve to complement a literature review of

Korean Christian activity in Central Asia, as well as an analysis of the role of South Korean and

post-Soviet soft power in Koryo Saram diasporicity.

Purpose

This paper will fill in a gap in the literature on the supranational power of the church in the

immigration journey of Koryo Saram from Central Asia to Korea. The Korean church in Central

Asia has already been examined, as has Russian soft power on the Korean peninsula. The

changing role of the church in migrant Koryo Saram communities specifically is understudied,

however. South Korean missionaries representing the Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist

churches transmit modern Korean language and culture through the Koryo churches, influencing

migration trajectories among Koryo In followers. Upon migrating to South Korea, some of these

devotees join Russian-language immigrant churches, which function as the heart of "returned"

Koryo In communities from across the former Soviet Union. The Koryo churches in Korea unify

distinct Central Asian national cultures through the Russian language and Russophone business

opportunities. This transformation process merits its own examination in an age of increased

transnationalism.