Results
Statistics
The number of Koreans living abroad exceeds the number of migrants within Korea, with more than 2 million Koreans residing elsewhere, many in advanced countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan. Despite recent demographic shifts, there is not a systematic effort to woo back Korean nationals abroad. Most of all, what South Korea needs is workers who are willing to work in so-called 3-D (difficult, dangerous, and demanding) jobs, which many Koreans are unwilling to do. However, the country's immigration laws afford the Korean diaspora opportunities to return and work. [7]
Korea's Employment Issue Solved
One of the Asian Tiger economic success stories, South Korea transformed from a struggling, developing nation to a prosperous, industrialized country as a result of its export-oriented strategy resulting from opening its borders. Gross national product (GNP) increased from US$142 per capita in 1967 to US$27,200 in 2015. Due to its falling unemployment rate, South Korea by the early 1990s realized it needed temporary labor to fill unskilled jobs that natives were becoming less and less willing to do. In fact, without foreign labor, coming chiefly from China and Southeast Asian countries, it would have been nearly impossible to keep the economy growing. [8]
Accessibility for North Korean Refugees
North Koreans represent the majority of refugees in South Korea, although officially they are not considered refugees and are citizens of the Republic of Korea, since North Korea is still considered part of the Republic's territory. The numbers of North Korean “refugees” have been increasing: 947 arriving in 1998, 1,043 in 2001, 1,384 in 2005, 2,402 in 2010, and 1,275 in 2015. [9]
Impact in the USA
Contemporary Korean immigrants tend to be highly educated and of high socioeconomic standing compared to other immigrant groups and the overall U.S.-born population. South Korean students have consistently been among the top three largest groups of international students enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions, along with Chinese and Indian nationals. Although the Korean immigrant population in the United States has decreased over the past several years, the country is still home to the largest South Korean immigrant population in the world. Japan (593,000), China (191,000), and Canada (131,000) also have large populations of South Korean immigrants. Kazakhstan hosts the largest number of North Korean immigrants (63,000), followed by the United Kingdom (15,000), Russia (11,000), and the Philippines (6,000), according to mid-2017 estimates by the United Nations Population Division.
Korean immigrants tend to have higher incomes than both the foreign- and native-born populations. In 2017, the median income of Korean immigrant households was nearly $65,000, compared to about $57,000 for all immigrant households and $61,000 for U.S.-born households.
In 2017, more than 19,200 Korean immigrants became lawful permanent residents (LPRs). The majority (59 percent) obtained this status through an employer sponsorship, and slightly more than one-third were sponsored by immediate relatives of U.S. citizens.
The government acknowledges the Korean Americans and their contribution to the society and the nation as a whole. They have even served in the armed forces and as mayors. The number of unauthorized immigrants is less as compared to the other immigrant groups. [8]
Problems
As described in the national plan for immigration policy, the Korean government desires a world-class Korea where foreigners live in harmony with Koreans. However, critics contend that the Korean government’s goals, strategies and policies are fundamentally discriminatory. [10]
Abuse of Immigrants
There are many reports from legal and illegal immigrants which have jailed in many prisons in South Korea because of small problems or misunderstanding their visas for long time. Also, there are some reports about beating and abusing the prisoners. South Korea immigration also forced them to buy the deportation ticket.
Temporary Workers and Illegal Immigrants
Since 1991, Korea has experienced a large influx of foreign workers, and the government has utilized trainee programs since 1992. About 10,000 Asian workers came to Korea under this program in 1992, and there were about 57,000 trainees in Korea in June 1996. However, the trainee program experienced problems: the trainees became undocumented workers due to a difference in wages and since they were not classified as laborers, they were not protected by the Labor Standard Law. The Employment Permit Program for foreigners (the government's foreign-labor policy since 2004) is a product achieved by a decade of interaction between Korean citizens and foreign migrant workers. However, these issues have more details to be resolved. On the legal front, the Korean state still allows foreigners to apply for low-wage jobs and excludes them from social benefits. The social dimension of nationhood is shown by public-opinion polls of Korean citizens' attitudes towards foreign workers, which demonstrate discrimination. [11]
International Marriage Fraud
International marriages reached the highest level in 2008, which accounted for 11 percent of the total marriages in the country. Data show that the demand for foreign spouses is particularly strong among rural never-married and urban divorced Korean men. Southeast Asian women tend to marry rural never-married men, and they are the most adaptive to the host society in the way they show among the highest rates of Korean citizenship and employment. There were more foreign-national women (65 percent) marrying South Korean men than foreign men (20 percent) tying the knot with South Korean women. South Korean men marrying foreign brides were at least more than 10 years older than their brides. Many of South Korean husbands were 45 or older while their brides were in the late 20s on average. Meanwhile, the average age differences between South Korean nationals were 3–5 years (26 percent) and 1–2 years (25 percent). Divorce by international couples, which has been declining since 2012, consisted of about 10 percent of the total number of divorces in South Korea last year. [12]
Mistreatment of Foreign Brides
The treatment of foreign brides in Korea and their multicultural children is a political issue, covered by the media and the subject of public debate on multiculturalism. Since most immigration to Korea comes from Southeast Asia, immigrant treatment (particularly abuse of foreign brides) provokes domestic and diplomatic tensions. Koreans are conflicted about immigration, which is frequently so focused on the birth-rate problem that it is more properly called "bride-importing" than immigration. [13]
Discrimination of Multicultural children
In recent years, Korea has experienced an increase in the number of international marriages and multicultural families, and the treatment of these families has become an important social policy issue for the Korean government. Comparison of social exclusion showed that multicultural families tend to experience a higher level of social exclusion in general than Korean families do. A multivariate analysis using a zero-inflated Poisson regression model revealed that females, elderly marriage migrants and those with lower social status were exposed to particularly higher risks of exclusion, whereas those who spoke fluent Korean or possessed fertile social networks were less likely to face social exclusion.
Children with multicultural backgrounds face discrimination at school, reflecting the prejudices against biracial people in the wider Korean society. To make Korea accommodating to them requires a change in Koreans' attitudes, according to experts. Kim Hye-young, 32, a Korean language teacher at Guro Middle School, says multicultural children at her school often face discrimination from classmates. "Children from multicultural backgrounds are treated as second-class citizens by their peers," Kim told The Korea Times on Tuesday. "Some of the students call their classmates with a Chinese parent jjang kkae." Jjang kkae is a demeaning term Koreans use to refer to Chinese people. Park Sung-choon, an ethics education professor at Seoul National University, said he made similar observations while interviewing multicultural children. "One child with a Mongolian parent that I interviewed said it happened everywhere, whether it was in the classroom, the sports field, or a playground," Park said at a multicultural family forum hosted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Tuesday. "They made fun of him and ignored him for his family background and accent." [14]
Changes To Policy
Korea now has a comprehensive set of policies targeted specifically at marriage migrants and their families, spanning a range of policy fields that goes beyond migration to include education, social security and childcare. successive Korean governments, developing policies within a social investment framework, have actively sought female marriage migrants to perform those roles and have supported them to do so, however from a feminist viewpoint solely confining a woman to her reproductive status is very problematic. In addition, abuse can stem from the husband feeling superiority and control over a woman who is simply there to bear children rather than for a true partnership.
Policies to combat fraud marriages has also been put into place. Korea's newest policies regarding foreign marriage includes stipulations that a visa will only be issued if the income of a sponsor meets the income requirement by the Minister of Justice. In addition, the foreigner is required to have a Korean language capability to properly communicate with their Korean spouse. A sponsor must have a residential space where a marriage migrant can reside upon entering Korea. [15] The space must be owned or rented under the name of the sponsor or a member of his/her immediate family living with him/her represented on the resident registration. Residency requirement is subject to evaluation based on the size, the number of rooms, and the number of people living in that space other than the sponsor. Lastly, If a sponsor is a naturalized Korean through marriage with a Korean national, and it has not been 3 years since the sponsor acquired Korean nationality, sponsorship of a foreign spouse is not permitted. [16]
A mail-order bride is a woman who lists herself in catalogs and is selected by a man for marriage. In the twentieth century, the trend primarily involved women living in developing countries seeking men from more developed nations. Men who list themselves in such publications are referred to as "mail-order husbands", although this is much less common. As of 2002, there were an estimated 100,000–150,000 mail order brides worldwide.
Foreign workers or guest workers are people who work in a country other than one of which they are a citizen. Some foreign workers use a guest worker program in a country with more preferred job prospects than in their home country. Guest workers are often either sent or invited to work outside their home country or have acquired a job before leaving their home country, whereas migrant workers often leave their home country without a specific job in prospect.
The Australian continent was first settled when ancestors of Indigenous Australians arrived via the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and New Guinea over 50,000 years ago.
A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work.
Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, from poorer to richer countries. Illegal residence in another country creates the risk of detention, deportation, and/or other sanctions.
Immigration to South Korea is low due to restrictive immigration policies resulting from strong opposition to immigrants from the general Korean public. However, in recent years with the loosening of the law, influx of immigrants into South Korea has been on the rise, with foreign residents accounting for 4.9% of the total population in 2019. Between 1990 and 2020, South Korea's migrant population has grown 3,896%, second highest level of growth in the world.
Filipinos in South Korea have a history dating back to the establishment of South Korea. Many live in Seoul, where they gather in the Hyehwa-dong and Dongsung-dong areas of Jongno-gu.
Immigration to Greece percentage of foreign populations in Greece is 7.1% in proportion to the total population of the country. Moreover, between 9 and 11% of the registered Greek labor force of 4.4 million are foreigners. Migrants additionally make up 25% of wage and salary earners.
Immigration to Singapore is the process by which people migrate to Singapore for the purpose of residing there—and where a majority go on to become permanent residents and Singaporean citizens. Singapore is an attractive destination especially in the region as it is a country with a strong currency that offers high living standards, including in education, work, wages and safety as well as an overall far higher quality of life compared to its neighbours. High-net-worth or skilled immigrants worldwide are also attracted to Singapore's low tax rates and ease of doing business.
Korean Canadians are Canadian citizens of full or partial Korean ancestry, as well with immigrants from North and South Korea. As of 2016, Korean Canadians are the 8th largest group of Asian Canadians.
The Southern Africa region experiences a relatively high influx of immigration into South Africa. As of 2019, the immigration rate is continuing to increase, and the role of the female population of migrants is significantly growing in this movement and settlement. The majority of immigrants are working residents and influence the presence of several sectors in South Africa. The demographic background of this group is diverse, and the countries of origin mainly belong to Sub-Saharan Africa and push migration south. A portion have qualified as refugees since the 1990s.
Vietnamese migrant brides in Taiwan represent marriages between Taiwanese men and Vietnamese brides who are mostly from poor, rural areas of Vietnam, such as those along the Mekong Delta. As of 2006, out of Taiwan’s immigrant population of approximately 428,240 people, 18% were females who had relocated to the country through marriage. Out of this population, about 85% originated from the Southeast Asian countries of Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and Philippines, with the majority hailing from Vietnam. It is estimated that between the years of 1995 and 2003, the number of Vietnamese women married to Taiwanese men increased from 1,476 to more than 60,000 individuals, making the Vietnamese the largest non-Chinese immigrant group living in the island. This event has been seen locally and abroad as something that can potentially evolve into a concerning societal and humanitarian issue. This issue is not just localised in Taiwan but also in Southern China provinces as well as Hong Kong and Macau. In every case, these practices are illegal and are classified under human trafficking.
Racism in South Korea comprises negative attitudes and views on race or ethnicity which are related to each other, are held by various people and groups in South Korea, and have been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices and actions at various times in the history of South Korea against racial or ethnic groups. It has been recognized as a widespread social problem in the country. South Korea lacks an anti-discrimination law, which was recommended by the UN Human Rights Committee in 2015. The law has been reported stalled due to "lack of public consensus".
While Korea has been historically ethnically and linguistically homogeneous, some minorities in Korea exist. Since the mid-20th century, South Korea has become more diverse than isolated North Korea, but even the latter has a number of minority groups.
Azerbaijan though not a popular destination for immigrants, has recently experienced waves of immigration with the collapse of the Soviet Union, especially from ethnic Azerbaijanis mostly from Armenia, Russia and the rest of the former Soviet Union. Meskhetian Turks were also relocated to Azerbaijan from Central Asia before and after the end of the Soviet Union. With the booming petroleum industry, immigration from Turkey has also followed. In 2010, every eighth resident in Azerbaijan was a migrant, of whom more than 90% of them are Azerbaijanis and 70% are internally displaced persons from the territories occupied by Armenia.
Since 1991, Korea has experienced a large influx of foreign workers, and the government has utilized trainee programs since 1992. About 10,000 Asian workers came to Korea under this program in 1992, and there were about 57,000 trainees in Korea in June 1996. However, the trainee program experienced problems: the trainees became undocumented workers due to a difference in wages and since they were not classified as laborers, they were not protected by the Labor Standard Law. The Employment Permit Program for foreigners is a product achieved by a decade of interaction between Korean citizens and foreign migrant workers. However, these issues have more details to be resolved. On the legal front, the Korean state still allows foreigners to apply for low-wage jobs and excludes them from social benefits. The social dimension of nationhood is shown by public-opinion polls of Korean citizens' attitudes towards foreign workers, which demonstrate discrimination.
According to the Japanese Ministry of Justice, the number of foreign residents in Japan has steadily increased in the post Second World War period, and the number of foreign residents was more than 2.76 million at the end of 2022. Being a country with a total estimated population of 125.57 million in 2020, the resident foreign population in Japan amounts to approximately 2.29% of the total population.
This article delineates the issue of immigration in different countries.
Migrant workers in the United Arab Emirates describe the foreign workers who have moved to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for work. As a result of the proximity of the UAE to South Asia and a better economy and job opportunities, most of the migrant foreign workers are from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
A growing number of families in South Korea have members that were not raised in South Korean culture. This includes both families with non-Korean members and families with Korean diaspora or North Korean defector members.
