Even though recent research has shown how mediatized discourses and institutional discourses rescale shifting portraits of authentic and inauthentic multilinguals, little research has focused on the dynamic processes through which individuals as social agents have been actively engaged in this reflexive process. Focusing on the increasingly fragile position of elite transnational South Koreans, this paper explores how four South Korean graduate students in the United States who are oriented toward strategically returning to their home country present themselves as an authentic global elite. Qualitative interview data show that participants in this research actively utilized the figure of an ideal global citizenship, a global Korean, who is equipped with a global mindset and internationally transferable skills, but who simultaneously maintains a strong national identity and proper "Koreaness" as an attempt to secure their respective positions upon return.