Moving toward Multicultural Society?: South Korea’s Migration Trends and Immigration Policies with the Focus on Foreign Labor

Abstract

Background: South Korea’s attempt to achieve multiculturalism and attract more foreign
labor; ranged from unskilled manpower to highly skilled foreigners, is very intrigued why the
nation with its homogeneous myth and strong ethnocentric nationalism would yearn for multicultural society.With large numbers of the prospective immigrant infl ux, the newcomers who would bring along with them diversities might be viewed as an intimidation to the nation and the society, therefore the nation should require for a proactive response to the change.

Objective: This paper will explore South Korea’s recent immigration policies that have been established to respond to national interest in more foreign manpower. Furthermore, it will
go beyond the discussion about the homogeneous myth and the source of Korean ethnocentric nationalism that could obstruct South Korea’s process of moving toward a multicultural society. The study aims to address how South Korea, at the policy level, acts upon the recent immigration situation and prepares the nation and its citizens for the societal change as a result of the fast growing numbers of immigrants.

Discussion and Conclusion: South Korea’s recent immigration policies refl ect national interest in attracting more foreign talents and manpower in response to the labor market demand. Aiming to move toward multicultural society, multiculturalism and social integration have been adopted in order to dissolve with the problems and concerns over the immigrations. The study concludes withthe societal challenges that might hinder the approach to multicultural society and ends with the suggestions to overcome with the challenges.