Story: Koreans

Korean Women’s Network

Korean Women’s Network

Members of the Korean Women’s Network New Zealand are pictured in 2011 – from left, Catharine Shinke, Selina Yang and founder Soo Young Lee. Lee set up the network to provide support for so-called ‘goose mothers’ – Korean women who were raising their children in New Zealand alone while their husbands worked back home in Korea. The term ‘goose mother’ refers to wild geese who fly long distances in search of food for their young. Lee arrived with her family in Auckland in 2003, but her husband could not find work, so he returned to Korea, leaving her and their two children behind. The family kept in touch by email and Skype but could only afford to be reunited once every few years.

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Fairfax NZ, North Harbour News
Reference: 23 September 2011
Photograph by Ben Watson

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How to cite this page:

Inshil Choe Yoon and Hong-key Yoon, 'Koreans - Immigration in the 2000s', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/46749/korean-womens-network (accessed 27 April 2024)

Story by Inshil Choe Yoon and Hong-key Yoon, published 8 Feb 2005, reviewed & revised 1 Oct 2015, updated 1 Apr 2016