The Transnational Activities of Korean Immigrant Women in the USA: a Content Analysis of MissyUSA Life Q&A Webpage

This paper examines the transnational activities of Korean American women as described on their online posts to the Life Q&A sub-board of MissyUSA (12/1/18–2/28/19), the primary portal for information and networking among Korean immigrant women in the USA. Content analysis of Life Q&A posts by MissyUSA participants shows that the most frequently asked questions are travel to the home country and inquiries about cultural activities. Questions related to transnational communication and economic and political transnational activities were less common than expected. These findings suggest that unlike economic and political migrants for whom remittances and political participation are key forms of engagement with the homeland, middle-class immigrants like Korean women in America seek more lifestyle-related cross-national activities such as home country travel and cultural preservation. Moreover, gender mediates the forms and scope of transnational engagement with the home country as it is married Korean immigrant women who actively seek and share valuable information to conduct a variety of transnational activities.