I would like to thank my Professors at Hannam University to help me find the

particular ethnic cuisine is not only distributed among a specific ethnicity 

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68 
rather it brings customers from various parts of the world to relish their 
taste buds. Another concern raised by Pakistani restaurant owner referred as 
Case 2 in this research, was the role of country of origin and its reputation at 
the global level. The interviewee expressed his concern over the fact that 
despite being a Pakistani, he couldn
’
t attract customers by telling them it
’
s a 
Pakistani restaurant rather he has to disguise his restaurant as a place that 
offers Indian cuisine because there is little to no difference between both 
cuisines. He admitted the fact that India can be used as a better name for 
marketing which might has to do something with the global presence of 
Pakistan as a country itself. He also indicated that free trade agreement 
between India and South Korea has gained India a familiarity among Koreans 
but on the other hand, Pakistan still remains a less popular country in Korea. 
The other participants in this research referred as Case 1, Case 3 and Case 
5 has expressed the same thoughts as Case 2 about their country of origin
’
s 
popularity in Korea. 
5.2 Ethnic Labor
As per the results it was found that Ethnic Labor as a survival factor was 
partially confirmed which means it is of importance for some restaurant 
owners but others prefer to work with non-ethnic employees. Those who 
confirmed it as an integral factor to their survival had expressed various 
concerns which can be found in the previous literature as well. According to 
scholars (Bonacich & Modell, 1980; Wilson & Portes, 1980), labors from co-
ethnic community share a similar cultural identity and language which feels 
like a comfort to immigrant entrepreneurs. The other benefit is to overcome 
racial discrimination which can pose challenges to ethnic communities. The 
other participants who considered hiring co-ethnic labor had one common 
reason and that was lack of professionalism which blurs the boundaries 
between professional and emotional relationships with the co-ethnic labors. 
Case 1 and Case 5 also emphasized the need of basics of Korean language, 

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69 
which can be needed if locals visit the restaurant but they also mentioned 
them empathy for their co-ethnic community members. These findings are 
consistent with the previous literature that shows the empathy among co-
ethnic community for each other leads to the decision of hiring co-ethnic 
community members who lack human capital and host country
’
s language 
skills (Logan, Alba, & Stults, 2003; Zhou, 2004).
5.3 Ethnic Emotional Support 
As per the findings, ethnic emotional support is partially confirmed as a 
survival factor. Only one case which is Case 2 from Pakistan among the 
respondents indicated support from his community. He reported emotional 
support as a relief during hardships in Korea. This is consistent with
previous literature that shows (Chrysostome & Arcand, 2009) the 
importance of emotional support because of migration that brings along 
some cultural challenges and critical uncertainties so in these circumstances 
emotional support makes it helpful for immigrants to survive the hard times. 
In contrast to this, the other 4 immigrant entrepreneurs were more of a view 
that their co-ethnic community members discourage them out of jealousy and 
competition. All the respondents agreed that at some point they have to deal 
with destructive competition that affects their businesses. This is consistent 
with the previous literature(Khosravi, 1999) where it was found that Iranian 
restaurant business owners were found using same tactics to kill of 
competitors next door. It was described as aggressive competition that 
include wage price wars, lower food prices and opening shops next to an 
already thriving business. 
5.4 Startup Capital
Literature on startup capital shows that for immigrant entreprenuers the main 
source of startup capital is their personal contact, friends and family, credit 
cards or loans. Immigrant entrepreneurs are more likely to turn to their 

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70 
social network to get startup loans unlike non immigrant entreprenuers
(Huang & Liu, 2019). Previous literature shows the struggle that immigrant 
entrepreneurs go through and it is found that (Bates, 1997; Collins, 2000; 
Pearce, 2005; Smallbone et al., 2003) immigrants have difficulties in getting 
bank loans and being an ethnic minority makes it more complicated because 
of their insufficient credit history. The result of the interviews is consistent 
with the previous literature and it shows that all particpants accepted the fact 
that they got loans mostly from friends and family or many of them had to 
sell their properties or possessions back home. They also expressed their 
concern that having access to bank loans by government requires a credit 
history which many of them don
’
t have. They also confirmed that having 
excessive startup capital wouldn
’
t ensure the survival of their businesses but 
having access to loans by government could have decreased their struggle of 
arranging funds for the business in the beginning stages.
5.5 Emergency Loans 
Chrysostome and Arcand, (2009) states that for immigrant entrepreneurs 
they can overcome unfavorable business situations or insufficient cashflow 
crisis through rotating credit associations. The findings of this research show 
that except 1 interviewee no other participants confirmed that they have 
acess to emergency loans. The findings show that immigrant entrepreneurs 
need such an institute that can help them deal with the slow business days.
Among the respondents one participants referred as Case 1 shared 
his experience of trying to create rotating credit organization because the 
existing organization is not practically helping the immigrants. He also told 
that the aim of the credit association he was trying to establish with other 
150 Indian business owners in Korea was specifically for Indians. This is the 
same concern raised by another participant in this study referred as Case 3 
who confirmed that he is aware about certain credit rotating associations but 

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71 
they are not open to all ethnicities instead they support a specific group of 
immigrant entrepreneurs belonging to a specific ethnic community. 
One of the respondents referred as Case 2 confirmed that he has 
access to emergency loans but not through any formal institute instead he 
believes he can get assistance from friends and family if needed. He also 
expressed the formation of an institute would be a great benefit for all 
immigrants business owners. The benefit of rotating credit associations and 
their structure is discussed in the existing literature as well. (Geertz, 1962) 
elaborated that such associations let all the members participate by 
contributing a specific ammount of money every week or month. The 
members come together and give the money to any member who is in dire 
need of funds. This is how it works efficiently without needing any support 
staff to run such associations. 
5.6 Education
Research findings reveal that, education as a survival factor is confirmed but 
there are contradictory views on what kind of education is needed. Most of 
the respondents in our research had a foreign degrees and some had 
Bachelor
’
s degree. The degree itself doesn
’
t have a specific impact on the 
growth of business but it helped them to an extent that they learnt how to 
communicate professionally. There is a divided view in literature as well 
about considering education a determinant of success in businesses. There is 
no specific definitions that defines entrepreneurship in a right way and also 
defines a certain personality that has to be in a person in order to become 
and entrepreneur. As indicated by (Chell, Haworth, & Brearley, 1991) that 
there is no universal definition of entrepreneurship. Similarly, (Kirby, 2004) 
indicates in his study that most of the educational institutes are educating 
about entrepreneurship rather education 
“
for
”
entrepreneurship. Consistent 
with literature, the findings of this study also show that entrepreneurs who 

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