Racism in South Korea

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Racism in South Korea has been recognized—particularly by the South Korean media—as a widespread social problem.^[1]

An increase in immigration to South Korea since the 2000s catalyzed more overt expressions of racism, as well as criticism of those expressions.^[1][2] Newspapers have frequently reported on and criticized discrimination against immigrants, in forms such as being paid lower than the minimum wage, having their wages withheld, unsafe work conditions, physical abuse, or general denigration.^[1]

In the 2017–2020 World Values Survey, of the 1245 South Koreans surveyed, 15.2% reported that they would not want someone of a different race as a neighbor.^[3] This represents a sharp decrease from the 2010-2014 World Values Survey, where of 1200 South Koreans surveyed, 34.1% mentioned that they would not want someone of a different race as a neighbor.^[4] In the 2010–2014 survey, 44.2% reported they would not want "immigrants/foreign workers" as neighbors.^[2][5] By the 2017-2020 report, this figure had dropped to 22.0%.^[6]

Racist attitudes are more commonly expressed towards immigrants from other Asian countries and Africa, and less so towards European, white North American, White South American and White Australian immigrants who can occasionally receive what has been described as "overly kind treatment".^[1][7] Related discrimination has also been reported with regards to mixed-race children, Chinese Korean, and North Korean immigrants.^[7] Racism and discrimination against Muslims (who tend to be immigrants or foreign workers) is also common with many Koreans perceiving Muslims as a potential "terrorist group". These negative views stem from the rising prevalence of Islamophobia in Korea and the representation of Muslims and Islam in Korean media.^[8]

According to a report of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, undocumented migrant children are left without many of the rights enjoyed by their South Korean counterparts. The process used to determine refugees status is designed "not to protect refugees but to keep them out."^{[9][better source needed]} Migrant workers are only allowed to change their job with their old employer's permission. Migrant workers who work in agricultural sector, small businesses and domestic services^[9] are the most vulnerable to discrimination because of the temporary nature of their work.

History[]

Scholars believe Korean's strong national identity comes from a long tradition of "thousand years of ‘pure’ ancestral bloodlines, common language, customs, and history"^[10] and was strengthened during and after the Japanese colonialism in the 20th century. The Japanese's attempts to erase Korean language, culture and history had constructed ethnocentrism and ethno-nationalism as a method for Koreans to reclaim and maintain their sovereignty.

According to Katharine Moon, the Asian financial crisis in 1997 is one of the events that shaped Korean's dominant attitude towards immigrants and foreigners. In the 1997 crisis, the IMF forced South Korea to take a bailout and the adverse effect it had on Korean's economy caused the closings of financial institutions, losing jobs for 5% of workers and decreased earnings for the majority of the population.^[11]

COVID-19 pandemic[]

During the COVID-19 crisis, 1.4 million foreigners living in South Korea were initially excluded from the government's subsidy plan, which includes relief funds of up to 1 million won to Korean households. Although all people are susceptible to the virus, only foreigners who are married to Korean citizens were eligible for the money because of their "strong ties to the country".^[12][13] Following backlash, financial aid was extended to most foreigners in August that year.^[14][15]

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has made schools in South Korea go fully online but the immigrant and refugee children have not received proper education opportunities due to the lack of appropriate online curriculum for them.^[16]

In March 2021, several regions in Korea ordered all foreigners to undergo testing for COVID or risk a fine. This legislation has been criticized by activists for being discriminatory and racist.^[17]

Legislation[]

Recent legislation—in particular, the Foreign Workers' Employment Act (2004) and Support for Multicultural Families (2008)—have improved the situation of immigrants, more efficiently protecting their human and labor rights.^[1] In 2011, the South Korean military abandoned a regulation barring mixed-race men from enlisting, and changed the oath of enlistment to not reference racial purity (minjok) to citizenship.^[7] Similarly, related concepts have been withdrawn from school curricula.^[7] This has been accredited in part to international pressure—in particular, concern from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which stated persistent ethnic-centric thinking in South Korea "might be an obstacle to the realization of equal treatment and respect for foreigners and people belonging to different races and cultures".^[7]

As of September 2021, South Korea was lacking an anti-discrimination law, which has been globally recommended by the UN Human Rights Committee in 2015.^{[citation needed]} It is frequently discussed in South Korean media and by politicians.^[18][2] As a result, incidents have been reported where people were denied service at business establishments because of their ethnicity.^{[19][20][21][22]} Legislations to protect against discrimination has been brought up in 2007, 2010 and 2012.^[11] but the bills faced objections chiefly by conservative Protestants. Another attempt has been made in 2020 by a minor liberal Justice Party to “ban all kinds of discrimination based on gender, disability, age, language, country of origin, sexual orientation, physical condition, academic background and any other reason.”^[23]

According to a survey conducted by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea among foreign residents in South Korea in 2019, 68.4% of respondents declared they had experienced racial discrimination, and many of them said they experienced it due of their Korean language skills (62.3%), because they were not Korean (59.7%), or due to their race (44.7%).^[24]

In education[]

Only 40% of mixed-race elementary and middle school students, or students born out of international marriages are considered Koreans by their classmates. Almost 50% of students said they have difficulties maintaining relationships with students who do not share the same nationality background. The reason given by Korean students is because of their classmates' different skin colors (24.2%), fear of being outcast by other Korean students (16.8%), and feeling of embarrassment if being friends with mixed-race children (15.5%)^[25]

Korean children also show a tendency to discriminate against Africans and people of African descent. In a 2015 research by Education Research International, Korean children show negative responses to darker-skin characters in picture book illustrations. This attitude of children is seen as a reflection of their parent's anti-blackness prejudice towards black people and white-dominant surroundings.^[26]

In 2009, Paul Jambor (Assistant professor at Korea University) claimed that Korean college students exhibit discrimination towards foreign professors by calling them by their first names and not showing the same amount of respect towards them^[27] as students traditionally show towards their Korean professors.

See also[]

• Refugees in South Korea
• Korean ethnic nationalism
• Racism in North Korea

References[]

Further reading[]

• Schmid, Andre (2002). Korea Between Empires. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231506304.
• Shin, Gi-Wook (2006). Ethnic Nationalism in Korea. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804754088. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
• Shin, Gi Wook (1 November 2012). "Racist South Korea? Diverse but not tolerant of diversity". In Rotem Kowner; Walter Demel (eds.). Race and Racism in Modern East Asia: Western and Eastern Constructions. BRILL. p. 369. ISBN 978-90-04-23729-2.
• Watson, Iain (2010). "Multiculturalism in South Korea: A Critical Assessment". Journal of Contemporary Asia. 40 (2): 337–346. doi:10.1080/00472331003600549. S2CID 154968115.

External links[]

• Quotations related to Racism in South Korea at Wikiquote