The Legitimacy of Exclusion: Citizenship Politics in South Korea Queer Perspectives

This study adopts a critical phenomenological approach and bases its conceptual and interpretative framework on a decolonizing critique of Western-centric formations of citizenship. The study aims to explore the legitimacy of social exclusion by engaging with ongoing political discourse on social exclusion while examining exclusionary politics surrounding qualification and citizenship through the lens of South Korean Queer individuals. A total of 32 adult participants who self-identified as Korean Queers and were residing in South Korea were recruited online. A 1:1 in-depth interview was conducted between July and August 2024, lasting approximately 90 minutes. The analysis resulted in four major themes: (1) Governing Citizenship, (2) Surviving Surveillance: Queer Negotiations, (3) Hierarchies Within: Extended Exclusionary Politics Among Queer Communities, and (4) Misaligned Queer Futurities. Subthemes included "Controlled Visibility," "The Temporality of Disqualification," "Model Queer Citizen?" and "Stratified Belonging." The findings suggest that within Korea's context, the legitimacy of exclusion is inseparable from social inclusion. Based on the findings, I reorient Western-centric notions of citizenship and discuss how exclusion is reconfigured into localized forms under imported regulatory ideals.