Workers or Residents?diverging patterns of immigrant incorporation in Korea and Japan

Pacific Affairs

Volumn 83, Issue 4, 2010, Pages 675-696

  Chung, Erin Aeran ^a  

^a JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Civil society; Diversity; Immigration; Incorporation; Japan; Korea

Indexed keywords

CIVIL SOCIETY; IMMIGRANT; IMMIGRATION;

JAPAN; KOREA;

EID: 78651238903     PISSN: 0030851X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.5509/2010834675     Document Type: Article

References (67)

1. Korea Immigration Service, "Korea Immigration Service (KIS) Statistics 2009."
2. See Anthony M. Messina, The Logics and Politics of Post-WWII Migration to Western Europe (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007), p. 233.
3. Gary P. Freeman, "Modes of Immigration Politics in Liberal Democratic States," International Migration Review, vol. 29, no. 4 (1995), pp. 881-902.
4. Rogers Brubaker, Citizenship and Nationhood in France and Germany (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992).
5. Stephen Castles and Mark J. Miller, The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World, 4th ed. (New York: Guilford Press, 2009).
6. See inter alia Jan Niessen et al., Migrant Integration Policy Index (Brussels: British Council and Migration Policy Group, 2007); and Harald Waldrauch and Christoph Hofinger, "An Index to Measure the Legal Obstacles to the Integration of Migrants," New Community, vol. 23, no. 2 (1997), pp. 271-285.
7. Ruud Koopmans, "Trade-Offs between Equality and Difference: Immigrant Integration, Multiculturalism and the Welfare State in Cross-National Perspective," Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 36, no. 1 (2010), pp. 1-26.
8. Adrian Favell, "Integration Nations: The Nation-State and Research on Immigrants in Western Europe," Comparative Social Research, vol. 22 (2003), pp. 13-42.
9. Gary P. Freeman, "Immigrant Incorporation in Western Democracies," International Migration Review, vol. 38, no. 3 (2004), pp. 945-969.
10. Patrick R. Ireland, The Policy Challenge of Ethnic Diversity: Immigrant Politics in France and Switzerland (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994).
11. See inter alia, for Japan, Deborah Milly, "Policy Advocacy for Foreign Residents in Japan," and Keiko Yamanaka, "Immigrant Incorporation and Women's Community Activities in Japan: Local NGOs and Public Education for Immigrant Children," in Takeyuki Tsuda, ed., Local Citizenship in Recent Countries of Immigration: Japan in Comparative Perspective (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2006); and Glenda Roberts, "NGO Support for Migrant Labor in Japan,".
12. Katherine Tegtmeyer Pak, "Foreigners Are Local Citizens, Too: Local Governments Respond to International Migration in Japan," in Michael Douglass and Glenda Roberts, eds., Japan and Global Migration (New York: Routledge, 2000); for Korea, Yong Wook Lee and Hyemee Park, "The Politics of Foreign Labor Policy in Korea and Japan," Journal of Contemporary Asia, vol. 35, no. 2 (2005), pp. 143-165.
13. Jin Yoon, "The Development of Multiculturalism Discourse and Multicultural Policy in South Korea: With a Focus on the Roles of the Government and Civil Society," Trans-Humanities, vol. 1 (2009), pp. 63-99.
14. See Apichai Shipper, Fighting for Foreigners: Immigration and Its Impact on Japanese Democracy (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2008) and Joon Kim, "Insurgency and Advocacy: Unauthorized Foreign Workers and Civil Society in South Korea," Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, vol. 12, no. 3 (2003), pp. 237-269.
15. See Erin Aeran Chung, Immigration and Citizenship in Japan (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010); Amy Gurowitz, "Mobilizing International Norms: Domestic Actors, Immigrants, and the Japanese State," World Politics, vol. 51, no. 3 (1999), pp. 413-45.
16. Timothy Lim, "Racing from the Bottom in South Korea? The Nexus Between Civil Society and Transnational Migrants," Asian Survey, vol. 43, no. 3 (2003), pp. 423-442.
17. Alan Smart and Josephine Smart, "Time-Space Punctuation: Hong Kong's Border Regime and Limits on Mobility," Pacific Affairs, vol. 81, no. 2 (2008), p. 177.
18. Ministry for Health, Welfare, and Family Affairs, The Basic Plan on Aging Society and Population of Korea, 2010; MIC, Japan Statistical Yearbook 2010.
19. See Takeyuki Tsuda, Strangers in the Ethnic Homeland: Japanese Brazilian Return Migration in Transnational Perspective (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003).
20. John Skrentny et al., "Defining Nations in Asia and Europe: A Comparative Analysis of Ethnic Return Migration Policy," International Migration Review, vol. 41, no. 4 (2007), p. 799.
21. Jung-Sun Park and Paul Y. Chang. "Contention in the Construction of a Global Korean Community: The Case of the Overseas Korean Act," Journal of Korean Studies, vol. 10 (2005), pp. 1-27.
22. Since the 2003 amendment, ethnic Koreans from China and the former Soviet Union must formally apply for a change of status to that of Overseas Korean in order to be eligible for the aforementioned benefits. The thousands of co-ethnic immigrants from China with undocumented status, however, are not eligible.
23. Dong-Hoon Seol, "Past and Present of Foreign Workers in Korea 1987-2000," Asia Solidarity Quarterly, vol. 2 (2000), p. 7.
24. KIS, "First Basic Plan for Immigration Policy, 2008-2012," June 2009.
25. KIS, "First Basic Plan," p. 13.
26. Keizo Yamawaki, "The Challenges for Japanese Immigrant Integration Policy," Around the Globe, vol. 4, no. 2 (2008), p. 42-44.
27. Timothy Lim, "NGOs, Transnational Migrants, and the Promotion of Rights in South Korea," in Local Citizenship in Recent Countries of Immigration, p. 244.
28. Seol, "Past and Present of Foreign Workers in Korea," p. 8.
29. See Lee and Park, "Politics of Foreign Labor Policy in Korea and Japan."
30. SOPEMI, "International Migration Outlook: Annual Report" (Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2008).
31. Kim, "Insurgency and Advocacy," p. 253.
32. "Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice Celebrates 20th Anniversary," Han'gyôre sinmun, 2 November 2009.
33. See Timothy Lim, "Rethinking Belongingness in Korea: Transnational Migration, 'Migrant Marriages' and the Politics of Multiculturalism," Pacific Affairs, vol. 83, no. 1 (2010), pp. 51-71.
34. Katharine Moon, "Strangers in the Midst of Globalization: Migrant Workers and Korean Nationalism," in Samuel Kim, ed., Korea's Globalization (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000), pp. 147-169.
35. "KIS Statistics 2009." For comparative studies of marriage migrants in Northeast and Southeast Asia, see the special issue on "Citizenship and Migration," ed. Apichai Shipper, Pacific Affairs, vol. 83, no. 1 (2010), pp. 11-132.
36. See Hye-Kyung Lee, "International Marriage and the State in South Korea: Focusing on Governmental Policy," Citizenship Studies, vol. 12, no. 1 (2008), pp. 107-123.
37. Personal interview, 1 June 2010, Seoul, Korea.
38. Köno Tarö, lecture on "Prospects of Japan's Immigration Policy," Waseda University, 14 April 2010, Tokyo, Japan.
39. See Apichai Shipper, "Foreigners and Civil Society in Japan," Pacific Affairs, vol. 79, no. 2 (2006), pp. 269-289; and Shipper, Fighting for Foreigners.
40. Chris Burgess, "Immigration Showing Signs of Ninjo," Japan Times, 27 October 2009; SOPEMI, "International Migration Outlook, 2009"
41. Shipper, Fighting for Foreigners, pp. 11-12.
42. From the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, female immigrants who were recruited into the entertainment industry constituted the bulk of foreign workers.
43. See Chung, Immigration and Citizenship in Japan.
44. See Michael Strausz, "Minorities and Protest in Japan: The Politics of the Fingerprinting Refusal Movement," Pacific Affairs, vol. 79, no. 4 (2006), pp. 641-656
45. The fingerprinting requirement for foreign residents was reinstated in 2007 for all but special permanent residents.
46. Ministry of Justice, Japan, "Heisei 10-nenmatsu genzaini okeru gaikokujin törokusha tökeini tsuite" [Report on Current Foreign Resident Statistics at the End of 1998]; "Heisei 21-nenmatsu genzaini okeru gaikokujin törokusha tökeini tsuite" [Report on Current Foreign Resident Statistics at the End of 2009].
47. Only former colonial subjects and their descendants are eligible for the status of "special permanent resident," the vast majority of whom are South Korean and Chösen (de facto North Korean) nationals. Chinese nationals made up the largest group among "general permanent residents" in 2009.
48. The three visa categories that allow for unrestricted employment are 1) spouse or child of a permanent resident, 2) spouse or child of a Japanese national and 3) long-term resident. Nikkei Brazilians made up the largest group among the last two categories while Chinese nationals made up the largest group among the first in 2009 (Ministry of Justice, "Heisei 21 nenmatsu" report).
49. Multigenerational hwagyo residents, whose roots in Korea date back to 1882 when Korea and China signed a trade agreement permitting Chinese merchants to own and lease land in Korea's treaty ports, were automatically granted permanent residency upon the system's implementation in 2002.
50. See Chulwoo Lee, "'Us' and 'Them' in Korean Law: The Creation, Accommodation, and Exclusion of Outsiders in Korean Law," in A. Rosett, L. Cheng and M. Woo, eds., East Asian Law: Universal Norms and Local Cultures (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2002), p. 120.
51. Overseas Koreans with Work-Visit (H-2) visas, who made up approximately 26 percent of all registered foreigners in 2009, are given preference in employment and entry under the EPS but cannot reside continuously in Korea for more than 4 years and 10 months.
52. "KIS Statistics 2009."
53. Applicants in Japan must also have no history of attempting to "overthrow the Japanese Constitution or government, either individually or as a member of a group." See Ministry of Justice website, available online at http://www.moj.go.jp/ENGLISH/index.html, last accessed 18 August 2010; and KIS, e-government for foreigners website, available online at www.hikorea.go.kr, last accessed 18 August 2010.
54. Korea's dual nationality bill applies to three categories of foreign nationals: 1) "exceptionally talented foreign nationals in science, economics, culture and sports"; 2) overseas Koreans over the age of 65, ethnic Koreans who lost their Korean nationality as minors, and ethnic Koreans who lost their Korean nationality through marriage; and 3) foreign spouses of Korean nationals. The bill notably excludes three categories of foreign nationals: 1) so-called "anchor babies" who were born in a country with birthright citizenship and returned to Korea shortly thereafter; 2) divorced foreign nationals previously married to Korean nationals; and 3) native-born generations of hwagyo residents.
55. See Lee Tae-hoon, "Dual Citizenship to Be Allowed," Korea Times, 21 April 2010
56. Lee Tae-hoon, "Who Will Be Eligible for Multiple Citizenship?" Korea Times, 3 May 2010.
57. See Asakawa Akihiro, Zainichi gaikokujin to kika seido [Naturalization and Foreigners in Japan] (Tokyo: Shinkansha, 2003).
58. Focus group interview, 10 April 2010, Tokyo, Japan. Zhong Zhizhi moderated the focus group in Mandarin and Jing Hongtao translated the transcript into English.
59. Personal interviews with Ryu Sung-hwan of the Ansan Migrant Center, 25 May 2010, Ansan, Korea and Shin Sang-rok of P'och'ôn Multicultural Family Support Center, 24 May 2010, P'och'ôn, Korea.
60. Foreign spouses of Korean nationals are eligible to apply for naturalization after two years of residency in Korea (while married) or one year of residency for those who have been married for longer than three years; information available online at www.hikorea.go.kr.
61. Kay Hailbronner, "Citizenship Rights for Aliens in Germany," in A. Kondo, ed., Citizenship in a Global World: Comparing Citizenship Rights for Aliens (Houndmills and New York: Palgrave, 2001), p. 102.
62. Personal interview, 26 May 2010, Seoul, Korea.
63. Focus group interview, 29 May 2010, Ansan, Korea.
64. Focus group interview, 10 April 2010, Tokyo, Japan.
65. Rogers Brubaker, ed., Immigration and the Politics of Citizenship in Europe and North America (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1989), p. 6.
66. Tomas Hammar, Democracy and the Nation State: Aliens, Denizens, and Citizens in a World of International Migration (Brookfield, VT: Gower Publishing Company, 1990).
67. Quoted in Brubaker, Citizenship and Nationhood in France and Germany, p. 173.