Linguistic Human Rights of Asian Migrant Workers in South Korea

Abstract

There are more than 400,000 legal or illegal immigrant workers in South Korea who are suffering from insecurity of their linguistic human rights (LHRs). The immigrant workers are trying to re-establish their identity through voicing their LHRs. However, Korean society seems not ready to recognise LHRs of immigrant workers. This article examines this issue with the perspective of ‘ecology of language’ [E. Haugen, ‘The Ecology of Language’, in A. Dil (ed.), The Ecology of Language: Essays by Einar Haugen (Stanford: Stanford University Press 1972)], which advocates the rights of minority groups and their LHRs as well as criticises the paradigm of ‘linguistic imperialism’. It also suggests for Korean society that securing LHRs can be a starting point for protecting human rights and preparing appropriate foreign language policy in the era of globalisation.