Serving diaspora in the homeland: Korean American culinary entrepreneurs in Seoul’s food and beverage industry

ABSTRACT

This study examines the culinary entrepreneurship of Korean American ‘returnees’ in Seoul’s food and beverage industry, paying special attention to the identitarian and meaning-making impetuses and consequences that emerge in the production of Asian American food in Seoul. Utilizing in-depth interviews and ethnographic fieldwork, this study finds that ‘returnees’ emphasize their ‘cosmopolitan Koreanness’ in marketing their ventures and products and in explaining the relative success of Korean American entrepreneurs in Seoul. We conclude by exploring how the culinary entrepreneurship of Korean American ‘returnees’ in South Korea both add to and complicate contemporary understandings of Asian American identity, entrepreneurship, and foodways.

KEYWORDS:

• Korean Americans
• South Korea
• food studies
• diasporic return
• cosmopolitanism
• culinary entrepreneurship

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Laboratory Program for Korean Studies of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the Korean Studies Promotion Service at the Academy of Korean Studies [AKS-2023-LAB-1230001].