Go to the Bustling South: Intra‐Asian North‐South Migration in South Korean Mobilities to Vietnam

Abstract

ABSTRACT Intraregional migration in the Asia‐Pacific region has predominantly discussed migrant workers, international students, and marriage migrants moving from South and Southeast Asia to East Asia and the Middle East. However, intra‐Asian migration is more dynamic, including substantial southward mobilities, though these patterns have received comparatively little scholarly attention. This paper contributes to a broader understanding of both intra‐Asian and North‐South migration by examining South Korean migration to Vietnam. Based on non‐participant observation in Korean neighbourhoods and interviews with Koreans in Vietnam, we present an in‐depth exploration of domestic and intraregional socioeconomic and political conditions that shape the agency of Koreans moving to Vietnam. Drawing on decolonising migration scholarship, this paper introduces the concept of ‘the bustling South’ to capture the growing appeal of developing countries as strategic destinations for international migration, while subtly drawing attention to geopolitical, economic, and social dynamics, including increasing turbulence, within the North. In doing so, the paper seeks to reposition the Global South in international migration discourse and theorisation, critically countering (neo)colonial legacies embedded within transnational mobility research.