6　韓国における外国人政策の展開と多文化社会の模索

抄録

The purpose of this paper is to examine the foreigner policy and the multiculturalism that the Korean government is advancing today.

The Korean government has introduced cheap manpower to supplement the labor shortage in the manufacturing field since the end of the 1980s. However, their very bad working environments and the question of human rights have been coming to light gradually as a social problem. On the other hand, to improve the global competitiveness of the IT industry etc. in the advanced science and technology field, the Korean government is offering various incentives as they settle down easily. Thus, the government applies rotation policy to 3D foreign worker, and is advancing the policy of pressing settling down to the foreigner who has a high academic background.

In addition, the Korean society has experienced an unprecedented diversity of the population now under a new situation like the ethnic Korean’s inflow and an increase in international marriage, etc. The foreigners in Korea are 1.15 million people, and it accounts for about 2.20 percent of the population at large now. Such a situation breaks an existing, old sense of values over the people and the race from the basis. And, the Korean government maintains the system because of symbiosis with the foreigner, and is advancing the integrated multicultural policy in the education and the human rights field. First, the Korean government improves the working environment and the human rights situation to 3D foreign worker, and supports it so that the marriage migrant may adjust easily to the Korean society. Second, political participation as the local populace is requested by giving the foreigner who has resided for a certain period the referendum right and voting rights in local elections. Third, the government supports the education to foreigner children who have various cultural contexts on the school, and promote the understanding of multiculturalism.

The integrated multicultural policy of Korea just started now. These policies have progressed while repeating the trial and error. There are development of democracy in the Korean society and the local populace’s autonomy consideration in the background. To develop it more, the national consensus on a multicultural policy is necessary. And, the foreigners themselves should have consciousness as the member in the Korean society, and they participate in the movement for the right improvement positively.