Jung-Sun Park, Ph.D.

Professor of Asian-Pacific Studies

Dr. Jung-Sun Park is a cultural anthropologist whose research interests include (trans)nationalism, (im)migration, citizenship, race/ethnicity, Korean/Asian popular culture (including the Korean Wave and Japanese comics and animation), Asian Americans, Asian diaspora (especially Korean diaspora), politics of identity, class/gender/generational relationships, and community power relations. She is co-author of Korean American Studies in the Global Era: Theoretical Reviews and New Perspectives (Haggobang, 2021), Cross the Pacific: The Lives of Korean Americans and Their Socio-Political Engagement in the Global Age (Haggobang, 2020), After Hallyu: The Potential and Future Task (The Academy of Korean Studies Press, 2015) and co-editor of The Borders in All of Us: New Approaches to Three Global Diasporic Communities (New World African Press, 2006). She was a visiting scholar at the Asia Pacific Research Center at Stanford University (2003) and the Academy of Korean Studies (2010) and is a recipient of a Korea Foundation Advanced Research Grant (2002) and an Academy of Korean Studies Research Fellowship (2009). Her current research focuses on transnational flows of Korean/Asian popular culture.

Selected Publications

Books

Korean American Studies in the Global Era: Theoretical Reviews and New Perspectives (co-authored with Eun-Ju Chung, Kyung-Koo Han, Kye-Young Park, Jeong Duk Yi, Hyun-Hee Kim, Jae-Hyup Lee, and Chul-In Yoo). Seoul, Korea: Haggobang, 2021 (published in Korean). 

Cross the Pacific: The Lives of Korean Americans and Their Socio-Political Engagement in the Global Age (co-authored with Chul-In Yoo, Kyung-Koo Han, Eun-Ju Chung, Jae-Hyup Lee, Hyun-Hee Kim, Kye-Young Park and Jeong Duk Yi). Seoul, Korea: Haggobang, 2020 (published in Korean).

After Hallyu: The Potential and Future Task (co-authored with Sang-hoon Lee, Kyung Hyun Kim, Shin Ahn, Hye-ran Shin, Bao-quan Liu and Shin Kim). Seongnam, Korea: The Academy of Korean Studies Press, 2015. (Published in English and Korean).

The Borders in All of Us: New Approaches to Three Global Diasporic Communities (co-edited with William Little, Selase Williams, Irene Vasquez and Munashe Furusa). Trenton, NJ: New World African Press, 2006.

Articles

“Trans-Pacific Flows and US Audiences of Korean Popular Culture.” In Global East Asia. Frank Pieke and Koichi Iwabuchi (eds.). Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2021. https://www.ucpress.edu/books/global-east-asia/paper

“Immigrants and Transnational Cultural Flows: Korean Americans and the Korean Wave.” In Korean American Studies in the Global Era: Theoretical Reviews and New Perspectives.  Eun-Ju Chung, Kyung-Koo Han, Kye-Young Park, Jeong Duk Yi, Hyun-Hee Kim, Jung-Sun Park, Jae-Hyup Lee, and Chul-In Yoo. Seoul, Korea: Haggobang, 2021.

“Korean Americans’ Consumption of Korean Popular Culture in the Transnational Era: Ramifications for the Construction of New Identities and Communities.”  In Cross the Pacific: The Lives of Korean Americans and Their Socio-Political Engagement in the Global Age.  Chul-In Yoo, Kyung-Koo Han, Eun-Ju Chung, Jae-Hyup Lee, Jung-Sun Park, Hyun-Hee Kim, Kye-Young Park and Jeong Duk Yi. Seoul, Korea: Haggobang, 2020.

“Gangnam Style and the Korean Wave.” In After Hallyu: The Potential and Future Task. Sang-hoon Lee, Jung-Sun Park, Kyung Hyun Kim, Shin Ahn, Hye-ran Shin, Bao-quan Liu and Shin Kim. Seongnam, Korea: The Academy of Korean Studies Press, 2015.

An English version of this article is also published.

“LA Korean Community and Korean Festivals (co-authored with Barbara W. Kim). The Korean Community v. 22, 2015.

This article is reprinted in “Koreatowns and Korean Festivals.” Young-sang Yim and Dong-wan Joo (eds.). Seongnam, Korea: Book Korea, 2015. 

“Negotiating Identity and Power in Transnational Cultural Consumption: Korean American Youths and the Korean Wave.” In The Korean Wave: Korean Media Go Global. Youna Kim (ed.). London: Routledge, 2013.

“Korean Americans and Transnationalism.” In Asian Americans: An Encyclopedia of Social, Cultural, Economic, and Political History. Xiaojian Zhao and Edward Park (eds.). Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO/Greenwood, 2013.

“Why ‘Gangnam Style’ Isn’t Hallyu Style?” Global Asia 8 (3), 2013.

“The Changes in the Legal Definitions Korean Membership and Its Implications." Webzine of the Center for International Affairs, Academy of Korean Studies, v. 81, 2011.

“The success and limitations of Japanese comics and animation in the U.S.: Can Korean manhwa and animation follow suit?” in Complicated Currents: Media Flows, Soft Power and East Asia. Daniel Black, Stephen Epstein and Alison Tokita (eds.). Melbourne: Monash e-Press, 2010.

A slightly different version of this article is published in Korean Studies Forum (vol.4), 2010.

“The Korean Wave and Korean Americans” in Korean Wave. Korea Herald, ed. Seoul, Korea: Jimoondang, 2008.

“Korean Pop Culture Spreads Beyond Asia” in Insight into Korea. Korea Herald, ed. Seoul, Korea: Herald Media, 2007.

“What is Hallyu, the ‘Korean Wave?’” News and Reviews (a publication of Asian Educational Media Service at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), Summer, 2007.

“The Korean Wave: Transnational Cultural Flows in East Asia.” In Korea at the Center: Dynamics of Regionalism in Northeast Asia. Charles Armstrong, Gilbert Rozman, Samuel Kim and Stephen Kotkin, eds. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2006.

“Contention in the Formation of National and Ethnic Identities in Global Context: The Case of the Overseas Korean Act” (co-authored with Paul Y. Chang). Journal of Korean Studies 10 (1), 2005.

“Korean American Youth and Transnational Flows of Popular Culture Across the Pacific.” Amerasia Journal30 (1), 2004.

This article is reprinted in “The Borders in All of Us: New Approaches to Three Global Diasporic Communities.” William Little, Selase Williams, Irene Vasquez, Munashe Furusa and Jung-Sun Park, eds. Trenton, NJ: New World African Press, 2006.

This article is also reprinted in a catalog of a transnational art exhibition titled transPOP: Korea Vietnam Remix. Seoul: Arko Art Center, Arts Council of Korea, 2008.

“’Kokakukidotai’ ni miru identity mondai: Cyber jidaino kyokai shimpan, fuan, soshite kibo (The Question of Identity in ‘Ghost in the Shell’: Breached Boundaries, Anxiety and Hope in the Cyber Age).” Yuriika (Eureka: Poetry and Criticism) 36-4 (491). Tokyo, Japan, 2004.

“Korean American Youths’ Consumption of Korean and Japanese TV Dramas and Its Implications.” In Feeling “Asian” Modernities: Transnational Consumption of Japanese TV Dramas. Koichi Iwabuchi, ed. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2004.

“Ashiagye Migukinedaehan ‘Tajahwa’wa Keu Munjejōm (The Problems of the ‘Otherization’ of Asian Americans).” Yōksa Bipyōng (Critical Review of History) 58: Spring. Seoul, Korea, 2002.

“Identity Politics: Chicago Korean-Americans and the Los Angeles 'Riots'.” In Koreans in the 'Hood: Conflict with African Americans. Kwang Chung Kim, ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999.

Book Reviews

Korean Diaspora: Central Asia, Northeast Asia and North America. Hesung Chun Koh, ed. New Haven: East Rock Institute. Journal of Asian Studies 70 (1), 2011.

Media Quotations

In Why the Past Decade Saw the Rise and Rise of East Asian Pop Culture" by Julia Hollingsworth. CNN. December 29, 2019.

In “You Can Say That on TV” by Lyndsie Bourgon. Maclean’s. August 10, 2012.

In “Should Foreign Athletes Get Special Naturalization?" by John Power. Korea Herald. June 4, 2012.

In “Peacock Parade: Men in China Take Grooming to an Entirely New Level” by Lara Farrar. ELLE Canada. November, 2011.

In “Ces pop stars qui servent les ambitions coréennes” by Yann Rousseau. Les Echos. October 26, 2011.

In “Not Lost in Translation” by Ulara Nakagawa. The Diplomat. April 27, 2011.

In “Please Look After Mom” by Ulara Nakagawa. The Diplomat. April 22, 2011.

In “Priest to Promote Korean Comics?” by Ulara Nakagawa. The Diplomat. February 1, 2011.

In “Will Manhwa Catch Manga?” by Ulara Nakagawa. The Diplomat. January 1, 2011.

In “Japan Loves Its Leggy Cool K-pop” by Ulara Nakagawa. The Diplomat. December 24, 2010.

In “Calm Ahead for Korean Wave?" by Ulara Nakagawa. The Diplomat. October 29, 2010.

In “Korea’s Hallyu Boom?" by Ulara Nakagawa. The Diplomat. October 27, 2010.

In “Korean Wave Ripple Effect” by Ulara Nakagawa. The Diplomat. October 26, 2010.

In “Korean Drama Zeal in Asia” by Ulara Nakagawa. The Diplomat. October 25, 2010.

In “The Seeds of Hallyu” by Ulara Nakagawa. The Diplomat. October 22, 2010.

In “A Holiday for Singles” by Hana Alberts. Forbes.com. April 11, 2008.

In “Who the Hell is Daniel Henney?” by Ada Tseng. Asia Pacific Arts. UCLA Asia Institute. March 7, 2008.