we are no different

March 18-2005March 18-2005 University of KansasUniversity of Kansas

We are no different.We are no different.

Korean military brides in Korean military brides in Junction City, KansasJunction City, Kansas

Persons by races: Junction City Persons by races: Junction City

and its adjacent areaand its adjacent area 2000 2000Total of Koreans: 840Total of Koreans: 84020002000 KoreanKorean JapanesJapanes

eeChineseChinese FilipinoFilipino VietnameseVietnamese

Junction CityJunction City 348348 7979 1919 147147 4242

Fort RileyFort Riley 4545 44 66 5959 66

ManhattanManhattan 320320 8282 637637 9696 8181

TopekaTopeka 127127 9494 319319 179179 8181

TotalTotal 840840 259259 981981 481481 210210


Persons by races: Junction City and its Persons by races: Junction City and its

adjacent areaadjacent area 1990 1990Total of Koreans: 1, 126

1990 Korean Japanese

Chinese Filipino Vietnamese

Junction City

553 93 32 62 110

Fort Riley

129 0 0 74 0

Manhattan

244 88 270 87 25

Topeka 200 116 229 92 147

Total 1,126

297 531 315 282


Persons by races: Junction City and its Persons by races: Junction City and its

adjacent areaadjacent area 1980 1980

1980 Korean Japanese

Chinese

Filipino Vietnamese

Junction City

459 114 21 112 29

Fort Riley

226 40 9 105 31

Manhattan

120 84 137 58 34

Topeka 18 77 123 70 133

Total 873 315 290 345 227


Geary County: Foreign-born Geary County: Foreign-born

PersonsPersons American military presenceAmerican military presence

1950

1960

1970 1980 1990 2000

Germans

275 1, 755 1, 220 829 571 666 (32.8%)

Asia 39 1,054 670 886 766 678

Japanese

57 73 57

Chinese 8 4 0

Filipino 116 52 111

Koreans

540 515 402

Vietnamese

71 71 47


Map of Junction City, KSMap of Junction City, KS


Korean Settlers in Junction Korean Settlers in Junction CityCity

• “As far as I remember, I would say I began to see growing number of Koreans coming from 1965 since I came here in 1963. The Korean newcomers used to work under my supervision when I worked at KP. As you can imagine, when they first came they had limited access to jobs. They would work as dish washers and cleaners at KP. One of them is the family of the current Korean grocery store here. They came to Junction City in the early 1972, and began to have their own business; grocery store, Korean restaurant, and later Korean mill house. They are one of those who became so successful in this community. The first Korean grocery store opened was Je-il grocery that is on Grant Avenue. Since then the owner has changed several times, and the current one became blind and put the store for sale.”


American Military Presence American Military Presence in South Koreain South Korea

• Koreans in Junction City=part of the legacy of the Korean War and the continuing American military presence

• Opportunity for better life

• My interviewee: “Picking a Star Out of Sky”


Complicated identity and Complicated identity and membershipmembership

• Junction City: a contested place where the Korean women’s identity and membership in the Korean community and American society have been constantly defined and redefined, or understood and misunderstood, where issues of race, gender, and class were clearly embedded.


Constant StruggleConstant Struggle

• How they are seen by others vs how the women see themselves and their lives


Beginning of the Research:Beginning of the Research:How They are Seen by OthersHow They are Seen by Others

• Examples: Joan Nagel’s introduction to Korean women

in Junction City• South Korea and Junction as “Ethnosexual

sites”• My first visit to Junction City, KS, in 2001


One of the first places I visited One of the first places I visited in Junction Cityin Junction City

• One of the Korean Restaurants when I first visited

Junction City.


Junction City Korean Junction City Korean BusinessesBusinesses

• Kim’s Beauty Salon • Seoul Restaurant


Ads of Korean churches in Ads of Korean churches in 19911991


Korean military brides as Korean military brides as “former prostitutes”“former prostitutes”

• Stereotype as “former prostitutes” or “opportunity seekers”

• Examples through interviews (within Korean community):

1. A beauty supply shop owner 2. A Kansas State Univ. student 3. A deacon in my church 4. Their membership not recognized in Korean American society=many do not want to ass

ociate with KMBs.


Junction City Businesses and a Junction City Businesses and a Prostitution Recruit SiteProstitution Recruit Site

How they are seen and received by American society:

Kevin Wilmott: Junction City businesses did not want Koreans doing business next to them

Articles claim: “The town on the edge of Fort Riley has been a major spot for recruiting women, mostly Korean, to work as prostitutes in states such as Hawaii, Texas, New York, Illinois, and Wyoming.”

Accordingly, more than 100 Korean women have been recruited


1986 Junction City Korean 1986 Junction City Korean prostitution Incidentprostitution Incident

• Moral scrutiny: “It’s an import business that deals in deception, that thrives on lust and greed. The commodity is sex. The imports are Korean women. And profits depend on a marriage license . . . some of the trade, authorities contend, has its beginnings in sham marriage: U.S. servicemen who meet and marry Korean women, some already prostitutes, in their homeland.”


Korean Prostitution RingKorean Prostitution Ring


Examples of how they have Examples of how they have seen their lives and seen their lives and

themselvesthemselves• My interviewees’ reaction to the prejudice

• Lizette Peter’s interview and Korean students in her class

• Reaction to Dotson’s remarks


My interviewee’s Reaction to My interviewee’s Reaction to the Prejudicethe Prejudice

• Park suggests that it was not Americans who have given her hard time, but Koreans, especially those who emigrated differently from the way military brides had:

The funny thing was, I can tell you, that more than 90 percent of those immigrants in Junction City and many in Kansas City came to the United States through the sister-sponsored immigration program, directly and indirectly. In other words, those people have one of their family members married to American GI. But they tend to look down on the military brides. I am not telling a lie. I can really sense their attitude toward people like me. But this is America, not Korea. If in Korea, they can discriminate against us, but they should not do that to us in this country. All of us immigrants are in the same boat, and we should stand together to cope with hardship we face here. But we tend not to. I can say that the relationship between them and military brides is like oil on water. In the end, maybe there are three different groups in this Korean community: military brides, those who married American officers, and those who emigrated through sister-sponsored programs.


Lizette Peter, ESL TeacherLizette Peter, ESL Teacher• Atmosphere in her classroom and the Korean students’

motivation to learn English: their imaginings and desire to fulfill their dream to learn

“All of the [Korean] students were really hard-working students. I should not say all because there is always an exception. The adult women students had more variation than younger students. The high school age students worked “their butt off.” One of them was a classical pianist who was Korean. She worked so hard on her piano. She is the one who unfortunately killed herself.

• Learning English was number one because they knew that was a key to everything. So these students in my class worked so hard. They would do anything that it took to learn English. Even those who spoke English pretty well would still want to be in my class because they wanted to perfect their English.

• The others just wanted to be in high school to be with their Korean friends. Those women I had in my class were more like housewives, and they were more focused on education than on getting a job.


Episode: Dotson’s Derogatory Episode: Dotson’s Derogatory Remarks on KoreansRemarks on Koreans

• Koreans as Animal Abuser• Not live up to the European civilization standard• Koreans in America came for greed and

prostitution She concludes, “I don’t think there will be a

friendship between civilized Americans and Koreans.

“Is that why you have more money in our beautiful country; add to dog and cat money, Korean prostitution income?”


What My Research RevealsWhat My Research Reveals

• Whether their marriages survive or not, their lives are not failures or mere examples of struggle in an “ethnosexual site.”

• Instead, they are the women who took concrete step to learn the skills necessary to adapt to a new culture and who maintain ties with their home culture, via traditional practices, social networks, and economic support for their family of origin.

we are no different

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