Preparing Korea for Multiculturalism and Cultural Diversity

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Stigmatization and Xenophobic Sentiment Toward Foreign Residents

Korea is one of the few countries where “multicultural families” are defined by law and receive selective policies from the government – defined as “a family with a spouse who is of a foreign nationality or is a naturalized Korean” under the Multicultural Family Support Act, the law aims to “support early adaption [sic] and stable settlement of multicultural family” and “promote sound international marriage and to enhance Korean society's receptivity to multiple cultures” (Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, n.d., as cited in Jian Lee, 2023). Even as the country has undergone a major demographic shift in the last twenty years as the percentage of foreign residents has gone up from 0.33 percent in 2000 to 3.44 percent in 2019 (Im, 2020), with 1.119 million people part of a multicultural family in 2021 (Korean Statistical Information Service, 2021, as cited in Jian Lee, 2023), the reality of multicultural families in Korea – and immigrants – show that issues such as xenophobia continue to marginalize foreigners and migrants. Other than the support they receive such as multicultural family support centers, multicultural families have been long stigmatized for receiving unfair benefits, such as in “housing, loans, and entry into public kindergartens or universities,” when most of which do not, in fact, provide an absolute advantage compared to Koreans (Jian Lee, 2023).

The recent COVID-19 pandemic, too, tested South Korean multiculturalism as government officials limited or even altogether restricted foreign residents from receiving economic aid, when the majority of them “work in low-paying nonprofessional jobs or perform manual labor and therefore have been hit hard by the pandemic” (Im, 2020). Alongside the anti-Chinese sentiment brought out by the virus, with calls to ban Chinese people from entering the country and some businesses banning all foreigners outright, government policies to forcibly deport foreigners if they violate quarantine measures, charge foreigners for COVID-19 treatment, and block non-Korean nationals from registering overseas vaccinations on its vaccine passport system (Larsen, 2021) were largely seen by the international community as discriminatory (Im, 2020).

Social and Cultural Marginalization and Discrimination Against Other Cultures

Findings from the 2021 Korean multiculturalism inventory by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) also support the impact of COVID-19 in reducing openness to the outside world, as Korean adults recorded a score of 52.27 out of 100 in 2021, 0.57 points lower than in 2018 (Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, 2022, as cited in Jian Lee, 2023). The same report also reported that 70 percent of those from multicultural families have faced discrimination in the workplace, all the while earning less than Koreans (Jian Lee, 2023). Children of multicultural families were shown to have “lower average self-esteem levels than locals,” and despite the high attendance rates during primary and secondary education, rarely advance into college: 40.5 percent, a number “31 percentage points less than that of high school graduates with two Korean parents.”

Lee (2022) notes that many children from multicultural backgrounds “often struggle from racial and cultural discrimination at schools, and are deterred from pursuing their dreams,” supported by a 2018 survey among multicultural families finding that such children face difficulties adapting to school life. A government survey in 2021 also found that “nearly 9 percent of multicultural students in Korea fell victim to abuse at school ― much higher than the 1-percent rate among the total number of students.” General Korean sentiment still see the idea of “being different as being wrong” (Yoon, 2007, as cited in Rueanjun, 2021), as found in the 2013 Korean General Social Survey which revealed “that feeling like South Korean, the ability to speak Korean, and holding Korean citizenship are the most regarded qualifications for being true Korean” (Kim et al., 2013, p. 348-349, as cited in Rueanjun, 2021). Moreover, Denney (2015, as cited in Draudt, 2015) points out that the influx of non-Korean migrants and immigrants has created new social hierarchies, viewing U.S.- or Canadian-born immigrants more positively – about 25 percent higher – than those coming from other countries (Statistics Korea, 2014, as cited in Draudt, 2015).

Calls for an Anti-Discrimination Law and Embracing Diversity

Korea opening up on its immigration policies have increased calls for a comprehensive anti-discrimination law for some, which has yet to pass in the National Assembly since its first proposal in 2007. In-Jin Yoon, a sociology professor at Korea University, cites the ongoing protests against the construction of a mosque in Daegu since 2021 as an example of how Koreans have "exaggerated fears" about foreigners (Jaeeun Lee, 2023). Although the law has continuously faced backlash from conservative religious groups regarding the protection for sexual minorities, he notes that discrimination may become a major social problem as the increasing number of second-generation immigrants begin to speak out against their unfair treatment. One example is the government’s strict and deliberate limitation on most workers from settling down or from bringing their family members to Korea through its “employment permit system,” providing one-year visas renewable “until just shy of the five years needed to apply for long-term residency” (Draudt, 2015, as cited in Im, 2020).

As such, international observers have also pointed out the need to protect marginalized groups through the anti-discrimination law which, in recent proposals, would prohibit discrimination based on “gender, disability, medical history, age, origin, ethnicity, race, skin color, physical condition, marital status, sexual orientation, and gender identity” (Economist, 2019, as cited in Human Rights Watch, 2021). Human Rights Watch, in a 2021 joint letter addressed to the National Assembly, notes the country’s poor protection of women and girls, ranking 102 out of 156 countries in the 2021 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap ranking; the elderly, of which 40 percent live in relative poverty according to research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); people with disabilities; people of non-Korean race, origin, and ethnicity; and sexual and gender minorities. The intolerance towards LGBTQ people, who are “highly vulnerable to being fired, evicted, or subjected to other forms of harassment,” has especially troubled some foreign residents as the welfare of these minorities continue to be neglected (Goodwin, 2023).

Opening Up to Cultural Diversity and the Importance of Youth

Recent studies, however, indicate that Koreans are becoming increasingly favorable toward immigrants, with 41.9 percent of the participants agreeing with “the idea of having more immigrants in the country” compared to 22.3 percent against, and 80.4 percent believing that “Koreans can coexist with people from diverse backgrounds” in a 2023 survey conducted by the Migration Research and Training Center (Jang, 2023). The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family also found in its 2021 Korean multiculturalism inventory that younger age groups responded more positively in terms of multicultural acceptance compared to 2018, although pointing out a contrasting and widening decrease in high school students, suggesting that high levels of multicultural acceptance do not necessarily carry on as students age.

These results seem to indicate that Korea today, in the midst of a declining population, stands at a crucial turning point in opening up to immigrants and diverse cultures. As Korea’s youths of today and tomorrow will undoubtedly begin to increasingly interact with those from a diverse background, it remains crucial that the country focus on embracing these qualities rather than assimilating them under the principle of a “single-blooded nation.” Insofar as Korea’s policy of multiculturalism has primarily focused on marriage migrants and low-skilled migrant workers, perceiving migrants as “a socially vulnerable group that needs to be protected,” it has also given rise to an invisible and implicit hierarchy that has paradoxically fuelled discrimination and anti-migrant sentiment (Shin, 2022). In addition to providing concrete structural protections to address discrimination against marginalized groups, such as a comprehensive anti-discrimination law and in education, the country will have to undergo a major shift in the identity of its very own society, driven by future generations – one housed by people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives.

References

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