From Division to Democracy

ABSTRACTThis contribution aims to present the general issue of integrating North Korean (NK) migrants living in South Korea into jobs and society, the main characteristics of the social enterprise scheme set up in South Korea, and a few examples of social enterprises engaged in NKs migrants’ work integration. It stresses that the process of integrating NK migrants through the social enterprise model leads to apprehend this question, not in the traditional framework of policies specific to NK migrants, but in a broader framework to address a more comprehensive issue of the integration of vulnerable populations. This is an orientation that breaks with the previous public-policy framework towards NK migrants without real counterpart benefits. This approach also supplements governmental policies that have been developed since 2005 to encourage NK migrants to engage in skills training and support programmes in employment coaching. By adding case studies that assess the effectiveness of NK migrants’ work integration based on the criteria of job creation, job skills enhancement, and normal job sustenance, this study examines whether the European-originated work integration social enterprise model works for a particular social enterprise type benefiting NK migrants in South Korea.

In the past, the notion of a common Korean ethnicity shaped how North Korean migrants in South Korea understood themselves, and in turn were viewed and assisted by the South Korean government and its resettlement regime. However, new frameworks of belonging have emerged that focus on molding the North Korean migrant population into either "multicultural" (tamunhwa) or "global" (kŭllobŏl) citizens of South Korea. These are two competing, locally inflected idioms of "flexible citizenship" (à la Aihwa Ong) that are meant to capture North Korean migrants' border crossing experiences and transnational aspirations. Based on 15 months of ethnographic fieldwork, conducted between 2009 and 2017, this article examines the development of these new narratives of belonging. The "multicultural" framework emerged to categorize North Korean migrants and nonethnic Korean migrants together for provisions and services, whereas the "global" framework values the ability of upwardly mobile North Korean migrants to navigate transnational environments extending beyond South Korea. This article examines the process by which the "global citizenry" framework has overpowered the "multicultural" framework because the former provided North Korean migrants with a narrative that granted more economic opportunities and enhanced their role in the envisioned future of a unified Korea. This article brings into sharp relief the key role of the government and its migrant resettlement regime in shaping these new narratives. It also shows the ways in which the "global citizenry" narrative has become intertwined with a new kind of nationalist trope rather than replacing the old ethnic nationalist narrative.

I examined the social integration and well‐being of North Korean migrants in South Korea, guided by a modified model of migrant integration that includes indicators of both systemic integration and value integration of North Korean migrants. The level of systemic integration was measured using indicators of employment, education, housing, and health. The level of value integration was measured using indicators of a sense of belonging, a sense of trust, and multicultural acceptance. The main data for this study were collected by a telephone survey of 400 North Korean migrants aged 15 and over conducted from November 24, 2016 to December 7, 2016. Data analysis revealed a low level of systemic integration and poor health condition of North Korean migrants. The level of value integration was intermediate. North Korean migrants strongly identified as South Korean citizens and strongly believed that they could reach the same status as South Koreans. However, their North Korean culture and identity were not recognized or accepted in South Korean society and they felt strong pressure to assimilate to South Korean culture and identity.

What can public attitudes towards the integration of co-ethnic migrants teach us about social integration in newly diverse societies? Research finds that South Koreans prefer co-ethnic migrants from culturally similar or desirable origins, but it says little about the integration of migrant groups. Existing data and qualitative studies suggest considerable barriers to fully incorporating otherwise preferred migrants. Focusing on integrating North Korean migrants in South Korea – a relatively privileged migrant group that enjoys substantial resettlement support but encounters barriers to full integration – this paper addresses the research gap by testing competing explanations of migrant incorporation. Informed by Intergroup Threat Theory (ITT), the study examines how threats defined as realistic or symbolic shape native attitudes toward these migrants. Using a conjoint survey experiment to measure preferences for economic, political, and social integration, we find South Koreans favor North Korean migrants with extended residence in South Korea, which is a marker for diminishing realistic and symbolic intergroup threats. Conversely, migrants signaling stronger affiliations to North Korea or lacking diverse social ties in South Korea fail to alleviate intergroup threat concerns and consequently face discrimination. Our findings offer insights into integration policy and contribute to the migration and citizenship literature and contemporary Korean Studies.

Researchers who study family and fertility view Germany as unique among countries. West Germany is a forerunner in trends towards very low fertility, high childlessness and low transition rates to higher order births in Europe. Furthermore, the particular demographic situation in East Germany represents an exceptional case. In 1990, a new institutional framework, that of West Germany, was implemented in East Germany. At reunification, it was generally expected that eastern Germans would quickly adopt western German behavioral patterns. While this did occur in many areas, marked East-West differences in behavior and attitudes remain more than 20 years after reunification (Krause / Ostner, 2010). In the realm of family life, pronounced differences between East and West in fertility and nuptiality patterns persist (Goldstein /Kreyenfeld, 2011). Marital behavior differs sharply between the two previously separate German states, as unmarried parenthood is very common in the East, where more than 60% of children are born to unmarried mothers. In addition to a large EastWest gap in nuptiality patterns, eastern and western Germans differ sharply when it comes to women’s employment patterns and attitudes towards maternal employment, and these differences have been found to persist even among the generation of eastern and western Germans who were born and raised after reunification (Bauernschuster /Rainer, 2012).

The previous chapter shed light on the multilayers of plight and coping strategies of undocumented North Korean migrants in the Sino-North Korean border area, where they seek to reconstruct familial, social, and divine ties. Their networks are fragile, or in Mark Granovetter's term (1973, 1983) weak, and they are often desperate under the insecure local conditions in which there is no legal protection granted to them. However, these weak ties work strongly for some migrant individuals and families who take the underground railroads for better and safer lives via Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Beijing, to name a few routes toward South Korea and some western countries. This chapter is devoted to investigating their initial period of resettlement and transition in South Korea, with particular focus on North Korean identity politics and resettlement programs promoted by the South Korean state in a broader historical perspective. It aims to provide a retrospective look at the characteristics of ethnic nationalism and identity politics as lived experiences of increasing number of North Korean migrants in South Korea where multiculturalism discourses have emerged as a new norm. The fact that the nation is depicted as and believed to be predominantly homogenous must be taken into account with respect to the geopolitical specificity of North-South Korean relations (Choe 2007; Park 2009).

This study aims to examine migration, remittances, and transnational economic belonging of Bangladeshi migrants in South Korea. This study conducted the total 310 survey questionnaires on Bangladeshi migrants in South Korea from March 2016 to August 2016 in manufacturing factories, halal restaurants, halal grocery stores, and mosques of Bangladeshi migrants populated areas in South Korea and collected data is analyzed by SPSS Statistics 21.0. The results show that Bangladeshi migrants in South Korea have strong transnational economic belong and they prefer to send remittances for livelihood activities to their homeland rather than financial activities for future wellbeing. The highest degree of transnational economic belonging was found in taking care of families who stay in their homeland since most of the Bangladeshi migrants migrate to South Korea for livelihood struggle of their family in past and the lowest degree of transnational economic belonging was found in investment in their homeland for future wellbeing since they stay in South Korea for certain short period and expenses much of their earning money for their livelihood needs of their family at homeland. Transnational economic belonging to the homeland varies more by present occupation, visa status, and reason for migration, while labor migrants who hold E9 visas and migrants who migrated for economic reasons show stronger transnational economic belonging. This study suggests subsequent studies of transnational belonging based on various migrant groups and socio-demographic factors. Keywords: Bangladesh, economic belonging, homeland, migrant, remittance, South Korea

Belonging to one’s homeland is common and universal for human beings. Transnational culture belonging is the practices and actions of some elements such as language, food, clothes, song, etc. that refers to a person's sense of belonging to a particular culture or place. This study aims to examine transnational cultural belonging among Bangladeshi migrants in South Korea. A quantitative study was conducted based on 310 surveys on Bangladeshi migrants in South Korea during six months from March 2016 to August 2016. The results show that Bangladeshi migrants in South Korea have strong transnational cultural belonging to their homeland. The highest degrees of transnational cultural belonging were found “talking in their native language” and “eating traditional food” in cultural originality belonging and “watching Bangladeshi television” in cultural entertainment belonging. The results support the studies of Bangladeshi migrants in western countries as strong transnational belonging at homeland. This study suggests subsequent studies to compare transnational cultural belonging of various migrant groups through sampling based on socio-demographic factors. Key words: Bangladeshi migrant, international migration, Bangladesh, South Korea, transnational cultural belonging

North Korean Migrants in South Korea:

Everyday Bribery in North Korea as Moral Economy

Migrant Women’s Bodies as Boundary Markers: Reproductive Crisis and Sexual Control in the Ethnic Frontiers of Taiwan

Immigration issues have come to the forefront in recent years in Korea, where various groups of immigrants have seemingly been viewed in different ways. This study examines the social constructions of two types of female immigrants; marriage migrants and work migrants. The main focus is to compare two relatively similar groups of immigrants to ask ‘who is deserving and who is not?’, in other words, which groups of immigrants benefit from positive social constructions, and which are construed more negatively. In particular, the effects of historical legacies, narrative portrayals in the press, and public policies are examined. Data were collected from various sources including 586 articles from five major national newspapers, and research reports from public and nonprofit agencies. Analysis results can be summarized as; first, the mixed race issue in Korea has significant effect on the formation of the social constructions of female immigrants in terms of historical legacy. Second, the results reveal different patterns of social construction between the two target populations. The press and policymakers appear to be mostly in favor of the assimilation of female marriage migrants into Korean society. Although there are relatively many policies for female marriage migrants, immigration policies in Korea lack gender perspectives. Finally, it would be good to note that portrayals of female immigrants in the media should be changed to overcome the stereotype of female immigrants because the media plays a vital role in framing images of female immigrants, which consequently reinforces path dependency. Media, including newsprint, should not portray them as a stereotype, but make efforts to portray the diversity of female immigrants, especially treating them not as objects of action, but as actors.

The feminisation of international migration for care labour has gained prominence in the last three decades. It has been theorised mainly in the context of the changing care regime in the Global North; the changes in other parts of the world have been largely neglected. This article explores the dynamics between changing care regimes, labour markets and international migration in the East Asian context through the case of Korean Chinese migrants to South Korea. Korean Chinese came to South Korea through various legal channels beginning in the late 1980s and occupy the largest share of both male and female migrants in South Korea. Korean Chinese women have engaged in service sector jobs, including domestic work and caregiving, since their influx, yet such work was only legalised during the 2000s in response to demographic changes and the care deficit. This article sheds light on the female Korean Chinese migrants’ engagement in care work in the ambiguous legal space of migration and the care labour market, and their changing roles in the process of development of the care labour market. Based on interviews with Korean Chinese migrants in South Korea, immigration statistics, and the Foreign Employment Survey in 2013, this study explores how the care regime intersects with migration in the process of the care regimes development.

Since 2006, marriage migrants and their so-called multicultural families have been the recipients of considerable public resources and attention in the Republic of Korea. Thus, it could be said that marriage migrants constitute a relatively privileged group of migrants in South Korea. Yet significant human rights abuses, including domestic and sexual violence, widespread discrimination, and poverty, indicate that marriage migrants continue to face various forms of legal, social, and institutional precarity. By evaluating the specific trajectories by which human rights activists and organizations mobilize in the name of migrant rights, this paper argues that human rights-based activism has not been an effective means of mobilizing resistance to migrant precarity because of its failure to address precarity as a multi-layered and multi-sited reality. In consequence, marriage migrants in South Korea have turned to alternative methods for mobilizing resistance to precarity.

Immigration and Acculturation of North Korean Migrants in South Korea- Focused on Residents in Gwangju Metropolitan City