Blood and Citizenship in a Fragmented Nation: Logics of Gift, Debt and Inheritance in South Korea

Drawing on archival materials and interviews with donors, blood bank staff and experts, this article explores how the logics of gift, debt and inheritance shape the moral and affective economies of citizenship in South Korea. From leading haematologists’ reflections on the introduction of blood banking in the mid-20th century to national crisis narratives surrounding COVID-19 blood shortages, the article traces how the figure of the nation continually transforms as it both animates and is animated by South Korean blood banking. Taking a closer look at the case of North Korean settler blood donors, the article examines how their ambiguous belonging generates a fertile terrain for renegotiating relations of gift, debt and inheritance. Blood sharing conjures different collectives and (un)common fates for actors whose belonging to the South Korean nation is contested and renewed, instantiating ‘mutations’ in nationhood and citizenship.