Compatriotic‐Multicultural Local Identity in South Korea: Centered on Korean Chinese Resident Protests Against Film “F” in Daerim‐dong

ABSTRACT Since the 1980s, the opening of South Korea's labor market to foreign workers has led to the formation of transnational migrant enclaves in urban areas. These enclaves, composed of migrants from various countries, reflect South Korea's multicultural integration. Daerim‐dong in Seoul is one of the largest and most complex migrant enclaves in South Korea. Initially a working‐class neighborhood formed due to the influx of domestic labor to the nearby Guro Industrial Complex in the 1960s–1970s, it transformed with the arrival of Korean Chinese laborers in the late 1980s. This created a community where domestic and transnational migrants coexist. In 2017, the release of the film “F,” which negatively portrayed Daerim‐dong and its residents, sparked outrage among the local community. Protests, legal actions, and the formation of a task force by local elites followed. The collective response reveals a local identity among Korean Chinese migrants. This study specifically analyzed what the protesters said, how they were organized, and how the division of labor among participants was carried out. The findings indicate that Korean Chinese possess a complex local identity, termed compatriotic‐multicultural local identity , characterized by community ties with local residents and interactions with other migrants.