Why Diaspora Matters…
“240 million people live outside the country they were born in…If it were a country, it would be the 5th largest country in the world.”
“The magic of diasporas…how migrant business networks are reshaping the world – companies like Google, Ebay and Intel were started by migrants; companies like Coke, Pepsi, Microsoft, Dow Chemicals are run by migrants and they are connecting back to the country of their origin…”
“What helped China become a massive manufacturing power? What helped India become a global technology hub? What helped Israel become a great start-up nation of the world?”
Why the Korean Diaspora Matters?
A Perspective: Koreans living in the United States have generated an increase of about 15 to 20 percent in trade between the United States and Korea. This is one of the surprising conclusions reached in the special report by Imbom Choi and C. Fred Bergsten, The Korean Diaspora in the World Economy, which looked at the impact of the 7 to 8 million people who make up this diaspora on both South Korean and overseas economies. The impact of the Korean Diaspora takes on even more significance when you consider the fact that of the 7-8 million Koreans living overseas, a large majority of them reside in the world’s largest economies (the U.S., China, and Japan).
No country in history has ever succeeded in building a developed and high-income economy without participating in the global economy; globalization is imperative for economic success. And one of the largest elements of globalization and Korea’s economic success, in addition to international trade and investment, is migration. In this respect, it is no exaggeration to say that the Korean Diaspora is singularly responsible for the so called the Miracle on the Han River, where Korea has gone from a poor, undeveloped country fewer than 40 years ago to becoming a postwar economic powerhouse today. And the impact and influence of the Korean Diaspora continue to shape Korea and its people today. For more reading on this topic, please check out the section – Impact on Modern Korea.