Immigration Policies and the Factors of Migration from Developing Countries to South Korea: An Empirical Analysis

This study examines the impacts of immigration policies adopted by the Korean government, vis‐a‐vis other economic, social, demographic, and political factors, on labour migration from developing countries to South Korea using a modified gravity model. The model is extended to marriage‐related migrants to gain insights on marriage migration. The positive results in three out of the five immigration policies examined affirm that liberal policies are associated with increased migration, especially for preferred groups like ethnic Koreans, marriage migrants, and professionals. The positive effects of “push” factors such as population, unemployment, and inflation are generally similar to their effects on migration to the US, Canada, Germany, and the UK despite its more rapid transition from a migrant‐sending into a migrant‐receiving country. Political terror's non‐significance may be due to South Korea's limited asylum policy. Finally, the results of the extended model imply that marriage migration share plenty of similarities with labour migration.     

Cross‐Border Marriages in South Korea and the Challenges of Rising Multiculturalism

This study explores trends in international marriage migration, determinants of international marriage, and factors that affect employment and poverty status of marriage migrant females in Korea. The results suggest that the number of cross‐border marriages increased rapidly in the early 2000s but has declined since the mid‐2000s, perhaps because of the Korean government's strict regulations and of saturation in the demand for foreign wives. The analysis also indicated that rural males with a graduate degree have a similar probability to urban males with a high‐school education. Employment opportunities vary substantially by the foreign wife's country of origin, implying that social policies for addressing the difficulties of multicultural families should be tailored toward specific ethnic groups. Those who participated in work training programmes were significantly more likely to be employed than non‐participants, and the size of social support network significantly reduced the odds of living in poverty.     

Korean,Chinese, or what? Identity transformations of Chosŏnjok (Korean Chinese) migrant brides in South Korea

Chos?njok migrant brides are Korean Chinese women who married South Korean men (hereafter Korean men). The number of Chos?njok migrant brides increased rapidly until recently due to the attempts of the central and local governments of Korea to resolve bride shortages in rural areas in the early 1990s and the Koreans' preference for ethnic Korean brides over non-Korean foreign brides. Currently there are more than 26,000 Chos?njok migrant brides in Korea. Due to the drastic changes to their post-migration lives in their ethnic homeland of Korea, most Chos?njok migrant brides experience changes in their ethno-national identity(ies). This paper investigates this process and the underlying reasons for these post-ethnic return migration identity changes. It also looks at the types of identity changes that occur through in-depth interviews with 22 Chos?njok migrant brides in Korea.     

Naturalizing Korean ethnicity and making ‘ethnic’ difference: a comparison of North Korean settlement and foreign bride incorporation policies in South Korea

This article compares North Korean immigrants and foreign bride policies in South Korea. Despite being constructed as distinctive policy target groups, North Korean settlement and foreign bride incorporation policies exhibit striking similarities. The similarities result from the way policy problems are identified and certain solutions are justified; both North Korean immigrants and foreign brides are constructed a burden on welfare and as potential threats to social stability. Policy solutions are justified as they are designed to transform North Korean immigrants and foreign brides into ‘normal’ South Korean citizens. The major difference between two sets of policies lies in assumptions regarding cultural differences. Foreign brides are assumed to carry practices that are foreign and alien to Koreans, while North Korean immigrants are presumed to carry ‘authentic’ and ‘traditional’ Korean culture. Foreign brides’ cultures are visible and alien to South Koreans, and therefore are addressed under the banner of multiculturalism policies. North Korean immigrants are excluded from such policies. This exclusion reflects and reproduces the view of a Korean nation bounded by ethnic and cultural homogeneity.     

Liberalism,Group Rights,Language and Personal Identity

The notion of minority community group (henceforth group) rights has become firmly entrenched in the constitutional vocabulary in many countries in recent years Yet liberal political theorists continue to define rights in individualistic terms. For some liberals, while it is meaningful to talk about individual rights, it is meaningless to talk about group rights. For communitarians, on the other hand, since individuals are embedded in some shared social context and since some groups do have legal and moral rights and responsibilities, it makes sense to speak of group rights. In some societies, community groups are treated as a unit‐‐potentially as a right‐and‐duty‐bearing unit. The paper attempts to show how some recent liberals attempt to justify group rights by recognising “culture” as a “primary good”, thus basing cultural rights on a foundation consistent with liberal theory. The “cases” selected for discussion attempt to illustrate how liberal societies have wrestled with linguistic group rights within individualistic liberal frameworks.     

Polarized Scientists? Exploring Political Differences about Religion and Science among U.S. Biologists and Physicists1

From the Texas textbook debate to the March for Science, visible displays of activism illuminate how deeply politicized the science‐religion interface has become. However, little is known about the extent to which scientists’ attitudes about science and religion are politicized. Using original survey data from 1,989 U.S. academic biologists and physicists, we examine the degree to which political views shape how scientists perceive the relationship between religion and science, religious authority, their personal religious identity, and views on dominant scientific theories. Findings suggest that, indeed, the science‐religion interface holds political meaning for scientists, but in different ways across the political spectrum. Specifically, for politically liberal scientists, atheism and the conflict narrative are particularly politicized belief structures, while politically conservative scientists emphasize religious identity to distinguish themselves from political liberals. Findings point to the critical role of politics in shaping scientists’ attitudes and identities, which may have implications for the scientific enterprise, both at the lab bench and in the political sphere.     

Migrant Workers and HIV Vulnerability in Korea

Despite a rapid increase of both migrant workers and incidence of HIV infection in Korea, little is known about the relation between the two. This paper examines the vulnerability to HIV infection of migrant workers in Korea, highlighting socio-cultural, political and economic contexts. Major information sources include articles, government reports, archives in migrant-support and AIDS-prevention organizations and in-depth interviews with government officials, NGO representatives and migrant workers. The study reveals migrant workers in Korea face an environment of discrimination and isolation because of their status as foreigners from less developed countries and with jobs characterised by low pay and status. Encountering stress and loneliness and without family support, migrant workers – especially single males, those undocumented and females in the sex industry – engage in risky sexual behaviours such as commercial and casual sex, leaving them vulnerable to HIV infection. Little knowledge of STD/HIV, few STD/HIV prevention programs and easy access to commercial sex compound migrant workers' vulnerability to HIV infection. The situation is worsening and current government policy, including lack of education, largely contributes to the problem.     

Corruption,Policing and Migration: Exploring the Interaction Between Migrant Workers and Police in Russia,Ukraine and the UK

The rights of migrant workers and their experiences in host countries have been high on the political agendas of Europe and beyond. This article uses data from 138 semi‐structured interviews conducted with migrant workers in the UK, Russia and Ukraine to study their relationships with the police in host countries. We aim to contribute to the literature on policing and migration by analysing three different host countries, and the experience of temporary migrant workers regarding policing within each country. We suggest that the interplay between the experiences of policing in home and host countries can provide important insights into the practicalities of policing, but should not be considered apart from the context of the ethnic origin of migrant workers.     

The “Moment of the Boomerang” Never Came: Resistance and Collaboration in Colonial Korea, 1919–1945

The contradiction between the colonial ideology of universalism and the rule of difference may result in discontentment among the ruled, but it does not always lead to sustainable organized resistance. In many Western colonies during the interwar period, growing anti‐colonial resistance replaced collaboration; however, in Korea that was under Japanese colonial rule, resistance during the 1920s was superseded by collaboration in the 1930s. Adopting two accounts of ideology‐resource pair and structural characteristics of Japanese colonialism, this article analyzes the progression of liberal nationalism in Korea from resistance to collaboration. In colonial Korea, a separatist project led by the liberal nationalism started as a promising anti‐colonial movement, but by the end of the 1920s, it became apparent that the resources engendered by the separatism had validated both anti‐colonial nationalism as well as colonialism, thereby undermining its legitimacy. A more serious crisis occurred in the early 1930s: with the “decline of the West” and its associated intensified Japanese assimilationism, liberal nationalism not only lost its ideological ground but also came to overlap with assimilationism. The Korean elite's political conversion during the 1930s took place in a contradictory situation in which their nationalist practices ironically contributed to the empowerment of the colonial rule.     

Invisibility and Temporary Residence Status of Filipino Workers in South Korea

This study concerns a group of Filipino immigrant workers–mostly trainees or undocumented workers–in Korea. It deals with the influence of immigration on family members and their relations. The stories of sending babies to the Philippines and talking on the phone show how the concept of transnational motherhood can be applied to immigrant workers in Korea. This study also discusses the meaning of invisibility and temporary residency as a two‐control mechanism of immigrant workers in Korea. Korean society keeps immigrant workers invisible and prevents their becoming members of society in many ways. Therefore, Filipino migrant workers do not belong to either their home country or Korea.     

Transforming Korea into a multicultural society: reception of multiculturalism discourse and its discursive disposition in Korea

Since 2005, multicultural-based words such as multicultural society, multicultural family, and multicultural education have grown explosively in Korean society. Due to this social trend, adoption of the term multiculturalism has become a trend within the government and press to explain current social changes in Korea. Nevertheless, there have been few efforts to tackle multiculturalism as a crucial political project or a considerable academic theme of discussion. Thus, this study aims to examine how multiculturalism discourse in Korea has been received and draws its discursive disposition. It argues how the media, especially the press, incorporate other crucial issues such as ‘diversity’, ‘human rights’, and ‘minority politics’ in terms of multiculturalism. To analyse, a total of 275 journal articles were selected and scrutinised. This study contextualises Korean multiculturalism and suggests a meta-picture of the discursive economy of multiculturalism in Korea.     

Women’s activism as public relations in a patriarchal society: The case of Kuwait

This paper addresses an important era of women’s activism in Kuwait. In the 1950s, when the government recognized women’s rights for education, the wave to obtain other civil rights clashed with culture, tradition and religion which became serious obstacles facing women in their struggle for basic rights. This historical study focuses on the establishment of two women’s organizations -- the Arab Women’s Development Society in December 1962 and the Kuwait Women's Cultural and Social Society in February 1963. To sway the negative image of women in a patriarchal society, women used activism as a public relations tool to achieve their social, civil and political rights. The study uses cultural-economic model (CEM) to illustrate how activism and public relations were articulated as synonymous to foster women’s rights in Kuwait. Archived documents and content analysis of media content published in the 1960s reveal that activism played a vital role as a public relations strategy and that social activism was more effective than political activism. The study highlights the implications of culture within the context of both public relations and activism.     

From concerned citizens to activists: a case study of 2015 South Korean MERS outbreak and the role of dialogic government communication and citizens’ emotions on public activism

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the cognitive-affective-behavioral sequence of public activism by examining the role of citizens’ perception of government dialogic communication during a national pandemic crisis. Through a case study of the 2015 Middle-East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in South Korea, the results of a survey of 400 South Korean citizens showed that distrust in government and a high level of situational uncertainty were significantly mitigated by citizens’ perceptions of government efforts for dialogic communication during the crisis. Conversely, when the perception of dialogic government communication was low, high distrust in government increased cynicism, anger, and anxiety among citizens; high situational uncertainty led to higher levels of anger and anxiety, but not cynicism. Consequently, the findings showed that anger, anxiety, and cynicism significantly motivated citizens’ intentions to take actions against the government. Direct and positive effects of anger, anxiety, and cynicism on activism participation were not found and were mediated by the citizens’ activism intentions.     

The guests who stayed--the debate on 'foreigners policy' in the German Federal Republic

The recruitment of "guest workers" between 1956 and 1973 by West German employers has given rise to new ethnic minorities. The Federal Republic of Germany (GFR) claims that it is not a country of immigration--a controversy that reflects the basic dilemma over policies towards foreign residents, who now comprise about 7% of the total population. The shift from temporary labor migration to long-term settlement has been accompanied by structural changes in the foreign resident population. The logic of the migratory process is inescapable: virtually all migrations, whether organized or spontaneous, start with movements of young adult workers. When recruitment stated in the late 1950s state migration policies were concerned only with short-term fulfillment of capital's labor requirements. The state established a system of institutionalized discrimination, through which temporary guest workers could be recruited, controlled, and sent away, as the interests of capital dictated. This policy was impracticable because many firms found that rotation led to problems of labor fluctuation and high training costs. The trend toward restrictive policies on migration continued in the early 1980s; rising unemployment and urban problems led to widespread hostility towards foreigners. 3 key issues need resolving quickly: 1) the granting of security of residence status, so that migrant families have a clear basis for planning their own future, 2) the extending of political rights to foreign residents, and 3) the issue of citizenship. Like other West European countries, the GFR has become a multiethnic society through the postwar labor migrations. The early reform of legal structures to give migrants more rights is a precondition for social peace, and for achieving the benefits which multiculturalism can offer to all members of society.     

Labor after Neoliberalism: The Birth of the Insecure Class in South Korea

Abstract

This article examines the rise and fall of organized labor in post-democratization, neoliberal Korea and traces the process through which a new labor underclass has been created since the late 1990s. Under the sweeping implementation of neoliberal policies, Korean labor has become increasingly fragmented, stratified, and marginalized both in the market and political arena. In this polarizing process, an ‘insecure class’ was born, consisting of irregular workers and the low-income self-employed. These working people are characterized by precarious labor conditions, bare social protection coverage, and frail organizational–political representation. This study explicates such a drastic restructuration of the Korean working people from the interaction of chaebol-centered economic structure, labor unions' organizational narrowness, and unrepresentative political parties devoid of programmatic competition. The examination of the insecure class in Korea casts light on the significance of class issues in neoliberal political economy and the analytical importance of rethinking social class in contemporary capitalist societies.     

Exploratory research on the death and survival of neonates with congenital disorders in North Korea

In 2016, North Korea ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). However, previous data and the testimonies of North Koreans have suggested that infants born with congenital disorders are either being euthanized or else left unattended resulting in their deaths. The study focuses on the question, “How is the life or death of infants born with congenital disorders determined during childbirth in North Korea?” In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 North Korean refugees who were involved as doctors, nurses, or party officials in the policies and practices related to persons with disabilities. We analyzed the interviews using the Grounded Theory with constant comparison and confirmed that infants born with congenital defects were intentionally euthanized with the acquiescence of the North Korean political party, hospitals, or their parents. It was also observed that children with disabilities in North Korea are subjected to severe human rights abuses. The dismal conditions in North Korean society have made parents unwilling to and incapable of raising their disabled children. To preserve the lives and dignity of infants born with disabilities, systematic and profound changes are necessary in North Korean disability policies to comply with international disability rights standards. This study remains at an exploratory stage due to obstacles in accessing research data on North Korean governmental policies and the lack of credible statistics on persons with disabilities. Nevertheless, the current study offers a deeper insight and understanding of the actual conditions in North Korea. This study is significant as it addresses and shares the issues of human rights and welfare of persons with disabilities in North Korea with the concerned members of the international community.     

Problems and policies regarding the socio-economic integration of returnees and foreign workers in Greece

"The integration of repatriating Greek migrants, ethnic Greeks and foreign workers has individual and macroeconomic aspects, both of which must be addressed within a dynamic perspective.... This article analyses the problems involved, and the policies and programmes adopted (or the lack of policies), for the integration of incoming workers to the Greek economy. Wherever possible, the suitability and effectiveness of measures taken are evaluated against the experience gained.... It may be concluded from this analysis that policies adopted for the integration of various migrant groups to Greece (i.e. Greek migrant returnees, ethnic-Greek foreigners and illegal migrants) lack a central aim, orientation and strategy, as well as a long-term perspective." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)     

Conservative Apostles of Objectivity and the Myth of a “Liberal Bias” in Science

An article recently published in The American Sociologist argued that social scientists are biased because of their liberal views, and that this social activism might in turn explain the growing distrust of conservatives in the scientific community observed in the General Social Survey. Although I do agree that social scientists in the United States are mostly liberal, which is hard to contest given the accumulated evidence, this does not necessarily mean that liberal scientists are biased. It is one thing to adopt liberal views, but it is quite another to let these views distort scientific productions to the point that they are not scientific anymore. Since no systematic evidence currently exists to support this claim, the “liberal bias” remains a myth. Moreover, the authors do not report any statistical correlation between the purported increase in social scientists’ activism and conservatives’ growing distrust in science, let alone a causal relationship. I hypothesize that the authors, as conservatives, are more concerned with liberalism than with the politicization of science per se, and that their critics are aimed at challenging liberals’ domination within academia by depicting liberal scholars as pseudo-scientists.     

NeoLiberalism and the Challenges of Managing Labour Migration in Urban Malaysia

Labour migration into Malaysia has increased rapidly in recent decades and this has affected Malaysia's government policy in managing migrants’ movement. Interestingly, Malaysia has attracted a high degree of unskilled labour, accompanied by unabated rise of undocumented migrant workers. Mitigating undocumented migration is the main aim of Malaysia's labour migration policy and therefore the focus of Malaysian government. This has impacted on how enforcement agencies work out strategies. These agencies are the forefront of Malaysia's labour migration policy but they faced a number of challenges, such as documentation, finance and manpower capability, and political intervention, which impede their ability to optimize their capabilities in enforcing the Malaysian government labour migration policy. Resolving these challenges and moving towards a long‐term labour migration policy will benefit the Malaysian state, its citizens and the labour migrants.