South Korea's Developmental Democracy and Migrant Workers Policy (original) (raw)
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“The Frog That Has Forgotten Its Past”: Advocating for Migrant Workers in South Korea
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The paper analyses the case of labor migration of CIS ethnic Koreans (Koryo-saram) to South Korea. Because of an ethnicity-based preferential policy, they are offered better conditions than other migrants, but in many cases they choose to switch to a condition of semi-compliance by voluntarily taking jobs in sectors that fall out of their visa requirements. This option is dictated by the absence of Korean language skills and better remuneration in the illegal market, but at the same time exposes them to worse working conditions and vulnerability caused by illegality. This situation, that is convenient for all parties -the state, employers, sub-contracting recruitment agencies and in the short term also migrants -can be explained by two factors -a neoliberal distortion of the local job market in the interests of companies and the resilience of Koryo-saram workers -that are marked by an underlying inequality of power structures. An approach focused on political feasibility suggests that trade unions could be the best answer at hand to address this condition with possible mid-term improvements deriving from forms of transnational social protection.
FOCAAL, 2012
Multiculturalism has often been articulated through imperial and civi- lizational discourses that identify tolerance with the liberal West and intolerance with nonliberal societies and cultures. This article explores how the focus of the civilizational gaze is turned on the allegedly “not yet tolerant self ” in the neolib- eral developmental state of South Korea. The mode of the liberal government that recently emerged in South Korea has been shaped not in the self-celebratory rhet- oric of “what we are” but in the self-critical, developmentalist rhetoric of “what we lack.” Drawing from my fieldwork among local civic actors working in the field of migration, I discuss how the civic discourse of damunhwa, or “multiculturalism,” that emerged in opposition to the “governmental objectification” of migrant groups redirects the focus onto the ethical improvement of the general population, relying on another form of reified otherness that captures migrants and their pres- ence in the country as “opportunities” for South Korea’s moral ventures.
A study on the impact of work permit policies for unskilled migrant workers in South Korea
Homogenous South Korea is becoming a new emerging multicultural society. The expanding influx of migrant workers has made it evident that the benefits and costsassociated with the employment of migrant workers are diverse – including economic, socialand cultural aspects. It is also argued that there are negative effects. This study intends to research how work permit policies influence multiculturalism and analyzes the socio-cultural impact. This study will also discuss alternative policy improvements for the future. To support this argument, comparing the result of the migrant and immigration expert interviews (qualitative research) and discourse analysis by experts will be presented.
This article discusses how South Korea is increasingly, albeit reluctantly, relying on immigration to address the consequences of its industrial transformation which include, among others: low births, a rapidly ageing population, and labour shortages. It discusses how policy dissonance, the contradictions in government policies and the realities on the ground, produce mixed results which sometimes deviate from policy intentions. Specifically, the insistence on a restrictive anti-migration regime in the face of increasing labour demands and unwillingness of domestic workers to take low paying jobs result in the twin problems of persistent undocumented migration and increasing labour shortages. Likewise, the contradicting policy orientations of liberalization and ethnicization has been noted to create simultaneous push towards ethnicization and de-ethnicization of migration policies which may decrease discrimination based on citizenship but increase discrimination based on ethnicity. Unless contradictions in policy intent and policy dissonance are addressed, policies will likely keep producing mixed results.