Woo Chang Jung, 2012-2013
Curriculum Vitae
Woochang Jung was a doctoral research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity with an affiliation at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. He holds a Masters (2005) and a Bachelor’s degree (2002) in Social Anthropology from Hanyang University, South Korea. For his master’s research project, he conducted ethnographic fieldwork among North Korean migrants in South Korea. A paper based on his master’s thesis was published in an edited volume titled Welcome to Korea: North Koreans in South Korea.
After his MA studies, his research interests in issues surrounding North Korean defection and migration led him to China. For sixteen months starting in 2006, he worked as a Project Manager and an Education Program Coordinator for Mercy Corps in Yanji China. When he returned to South Korea, he continued to work with North Korean migrants, primarily focusing on strengthening their local community. In addition, he participated in a research project that examined the spatial organization of different migrant groups in South Korea as a Research Associate at the Institute of Globalization and Multicultural Studies at Hanyang University (“Transnational Spaces and Cultural Topography of Migrants' Communities in South Korea”).
His present research interests concern the living conditions and daily practices of Korean Chinese and North Korean migrants in Seoul, South Korea. He is particularly interested in their process of migration, socio-political alliances, and daily practices as embodiments of their aspirations and expectations.