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You are warmly invited to a seminar in the Korean Studies Colloquium Series, titled: “Zainichi Student Volunteers in the Korean War: War, Diaspora, and Memory.”
Join us as Yuki Gabriella Minami from Victoria University of Wellington explores the largely overlooked history of the 642 Zainichi Student Volunteers who served in the Korean War. The presentation will highlight the intersections of war, diaspora, and historical invisibility in Korean History.
Event details
This event is part of the University of Auckland’s Strategic Research Hub in Korean Studies, supported by the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS).
About the talk
Between 1950 and 1953, 642 Zainichi Student Volunteers served in the Korean War, participating in fourteen major battles, including Operation Chromite, the Chosin Reservoir, and Operation White Horse. Yet their history has remained largely overlooked, in part because many entered the war without formal ranks or serial numbers. This presentation examines the historical background and the conditions that shaped their participation by tracing the sites, routes, and battlefields connected to their service. It introduces the volunteers and the 3.1 Infantry Regiment, known as the “Ghost Platoon,” and explores how their wartime experiences can be reconstructed through military records, historical publications, and site-based research.
Speaker bio
Yuki Minami is a PhD candidate at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, researching the history and memory of Zainichi Student Volunteers in the Korean War. A former U.S. Marine and U.S.–Japan Fulbright Scholar, Yuki Minami holds degrees from Kyushu University and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her broader interests include minorities in war, diaspora, and memory.
