Graduate students and scholars of all ranks from the United States and Korea gathered at Stanford on September 11-12, 2025, for the 4th International Conference on the Sociology of Korea (I-CSK) to share research on pressing developments and transformations shaping and challenging Korean society and explore their lessons for other economies. Hosted by the Korea Program at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC), the convening tackled topics including changing family structures, mental health, labor, migration, and education.

For Paul Chang, the Tong Yang, Korea Foundation, and Korea Stanford Alumni Association Senior Fellow at APARC and the deputy director of APARC’s Korea Program, the significance of the event was clear: “The I-CSK this year at Stanford brought together faculty and graduate students committed to the sociological study of Korea,” he said. “It was truly inspiring to see so many young scholars researching various important challenges Korea is facing today, including the decline in marriage and fertility, incorporation of migrants and the diaspora, and political polarization.”

This intergenerational spirit of exchange between senior scholars and emerging voices was one of the defining features of the event. As Haley Gordon, a Stanford doctoral candidate in sociology, described, I-CSK was “a wonderful opportunity to connect and exchange ideas with sociologists working on Korea from around the world […] As a student, I felt and greatly appreciated a strong spirit of mentorship from the more established scholars.”

Sign up for APARC newsletters to receive our experts' updates >

Insights with Worldwide Reach

Many presenters echoed the idea that the sociological study of Korea has value far beyond its borders. “The sociology of Korea is not just another case study,” said Hyunjoon Park, Director of the James Joo-Jin Kim Center for Korean Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. “It is the sociology of the world.”

That sentiment ran through the conference. From population aging and low fertility to labor precarity and gender inequality, Korea’s social challenges echo those of other advanced economies. As Sojung Lim of the University at Buffalo, SUNY, succinctly put it: “What is going on in South Korea is often a precursor of what is going on elsewhere in the world.”

Minyoung An, a postdoctoral fellow at APARC, emphasized the value in convening a diverse group of sociologists studying Korea across subfields and across career stages. The experience "reaffirmed the importance of Korean studies as an emerging field.”

An’s paper, on gendered immigration selectivity among Korean migrants to the United States, drove home this point. Drawing on quantitative analysis, she showed that Korean immigrants, particularly women, tend to be highly educated compared to those who remain in Korea, and that gender inequality can drive migration. An concluded that migration is not just about opportunity but also constraint, stating that “Results show how migration processes can reproduce and exacerbate inequalities at multiple levels.”

Families Under Pressure

Research on family dynamics, childcare, and work-life balance offered insights into how Korean families adapt under the pressures of modern capitalism. Jimin Gim of the University of Wisconsin-Madison traced how mothers construct dense weekly schedules for their children, relying heavily on after-school programs and outsourced childcare. Her research highlighted a childcare market shaped by intense competition and middle-class anxiety.

On the other side of the parenting divide, Soojin Kim of Yonsei University explored why South Korean fathers receive wage premiums after having children. The answer, she argued, lies in how fatherhood interacts with class and corporate norms: high-income men are rewarded most, reflecting the persistence of a “breadwinner” ideal and employer bias toward married men. “Fatherhood premiums vary by social class,” she explained, pointing to how inequality is embedded in gender roles.

Other papers examined the intergenerational effects of these dynamics, including Jung In of Soongsil University’s study on how adult daughters rely on their aging parents for childcare.

Health, Aging, and Social Resilience

Mental health was another recurring theme throughout the conference. Harris Hyun-soo Kim of Ewha Womans University presented sobering findings on adolescent suicide intent during the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that girls in co-ed schools were particularly vulnerable. In contrast, all-girls schools appeared to have a protective effect.

Stanford doctoral candidate in sociology Haesol Kim presented new modeling strategies for identifying depression risk in Korea’s growing population of mental health patients. Her study proposed a novel approach to predictive analytics, stating that “We need to focus not just on prediction, but on understanding who is at risk, and why.” Research on aging highlighted the power of everyday routines. Work by University of Wisconsin-Madison's Sungsik Hwang indicated that later-life employment enhances social integration and psychological well-being.

The final sessions of the conference examined how education and technology shape youth and labor in a rapidly changing society. Presentations included analysis from Penn State University's Soo-yong Byun on highbrow cultural capital and school achievement, and HongJin Jo of the University of Chicago’s comparison of elite Korean and U.S. universities as sites of class reproduction. Closing the panel, Yonsei University's Chankyu Kim offered a timely look at how generative AI is reshaping the tech workforce. He found that frequent AI use among programmers affected their sense of agency and professional identity, raising key questions about self-efficacy in an AI-mediated workplace.

A Field and Community on the Rise

For many, I-CSK 2025 was as much about mentorship and intellectual community as it was about scholarship. “This conference really reinforced the value of Korea as a site of sociological inquiry,” said Haley Gordon. “While sociology in the United States often focuses heavily on the American context, the research presented at I-CSK demonstrated that the study of Korea offers important insights into core sociological questions about inequality, migration, social movements, and more.”

Paul Chang echoed this sentiment, noting that the annual conference draws U.S. and Korean sociologists “not just because of what we learn about Korea, but because of what Korea helps us learn about the world.”