Koreans worry about possible immigrant riots

[porandojin.livejournal.com]

By Kim Tae-jong

About 64 percent of Koreans are concerned about possible riots or demonstrations by immigrants as their communities grow larger, a survey showed Sunday. 

The survey was conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) on 1,000 people aged over 20 nationwide through telephone interviews to see how Koreans perceive the inflow of immigrants here.

It showed a majority think that the increase is having a negative impact on society, causing social and cultural discord between Koreans and non-Koreans. 


About 63.9 percent said they believe that there will be conflict between the children of Korean parents and non-Korean parents amid the increasing number of biracial marriages here. 

As the main reasons for conflict between Koreans and foreign nationals, most respondents cited differences in language, culture and skin color. 

Such negative views seem to arise from concerns that they have to share limited social resources such as jobs and welfare benefits, KIHASA said.

As of October last year, the total number of foreign residents in Korea reached 1.4 million, and 1.1 million were registered for extended stays, which accounted for 2.2 percent of the total population. 

Of them, 35 percent were migrant workers with a work permit visa, while 34 percent came here through marriage. International students accounted for about 7 percent.

In the survey, one out of every two respondents said Koreans will have difficulty in getting jobs due to the increasing number of foreigners here. Some 37 percent also believe their inflow into the job market will result in Korean wages falling. 

Such concerns are more prevalent among the elderly. Over 65 percent of respondents aged over 65 think the inflow of foreigners will deprive Koreans of jobs.

About 37 percent of respondents said the increasing number will result in a decrease in welfare benefits for Koreans. 

Some 36 percent also said they will cause housing problems to Koreans and 27.7 percent said they will have a negative impact on the nation’s economic growth. 


Lee Sam-sik, a KIHASA researcher, said the negative attitude of Koreans toward foreign nationals can be a serious problem that causes social discord. 

“The survey indicates that, in the almost homogeneous local society, Koreans may have difficulty living with foreigners and tackling problems,” he said. 

He suggested the country considers measures such as a quota for foreign residents and a proper screening system to minimize the side effects from sudden influxes.

source http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2012/01/117_102925.html

Comments

[idyllise.livejournal.com]

Well I guess that's the way people react to unfamiliarity and change! Korea is due to have 10% foreign-born citizens by 2030 so they ought to work on it ASAP.

[jonghyunf.livejournal.com]

Can't wait 'til the day where skin color and nationality is just another interesting feature rather than something that defines a person.

[cc9095.livejournal.com]

I'm also waiting for that day.

[prlsb4swiine.livejournal.com]

lol not to be a pessimist but ill probably be dead by then

[jonghyunf.livejournal.com]

Such concerns are more prevalent among the elderly. Over 65 percent of respondents aged over 65 think the inflow of foreigners will deprive Koreans of jobs.

Argument invalid.

[geniebsmart.livejournal.com]

Ngl...I thought this xD

[cc9095.livejournal.com]

I wonder what kind of work the foreigners do? Because the answer can influence on question about Korean getting jobs.

[dapo322.livejournal.com]

From what I have read online, I would think foreigners in Korea are there to teach English, been stationed there, or working at low level factory jobs. I don't think foreigners have that many choices when it comes to finding work in Korea. Someone else on Omona may have more info on foreign employment.

[cc9095.livejournal.com]

I also thought the same. Because if a lot of foreigners has a high positions in companies or they have a very good paid jobs then it's easy to understand why Koreans have difficulties finding a good job.

[4minutesluts.livejournal.com]

it's mostly southeast asian and chinese immigrants doing unskilled labour, like factory jobs as you said or construction. They only pretty much got let in (they relaxed the immigration standards) because there weren't enough koreans to do those jobs

[la-geni.livejournal.com]

I was watching a video of some German girl on youtube and she said that all the jobs that she saw that were in Korea required a bachelor's degree (which she didn't have). She finally found some basic hotel job.
I think that if you have the education, you'll have an easier time.

[empressmaruja.livejournal.com]

Many Filipinos work in Korea as shipbuilders, circus acts, or bar singers. Some Korean companies also outsource Filipinos as online English teachers (since it is illegal for non-native speakers to teach English in SK). I don't think my countrymen are grabbing the jobs Koreans dream of becoming.

[cc9095.livejournal.com]

I also think the same, in a lot of countries a lot of immigrant doing the job that other people don't want to do.

[la-geni.livejournal.com]

It's illegal. wtf. lol

[elizajet.livejournal.com]

It's not illegal per se. It's just that basically no parents want their children to learn from non-native speakers, so therefore the companies will not hire a non-native speaker. Plus, a non-native speaker cannot get specific visas that a native speaker might be able to.

[la-geni.livejournal.com]

I totally get that, though. It's like when I was learning French. My professor for my third year was from Africa and her accent was super heavy so we couldn't understand her French and more than half of the class dropped out and she got fired. The professor before her was Parisian, so you can imagine the difference. On a more professional level, I would prefer to have a Parisian accent than a heavy African one.

[asiotus.livejournal.com]

I also think it's those jobs that most Koreans aren't ready to do anymore. It's the same here in my country. Immigrants will do those low-paid "dirty jobs" like cleaning, constuction etc that the locals won't do. Those companies need to get their workers somewhere.

And then the locals whine...

[lobotronic.livejournal.com]

This article doesn't really apply (at least not completely) to foreign English teachers. English teachers actually have very good working conditions, despite the storiesyou hear about them getting screwed-over by contracts and greedy principals. They're living the life, and almost all of them come a place of extreme privelege. It is unlikely that you'll see a Native english Teacher taking part in a riot for immigration rights.

They're talking instead about immigrants who come in and do factory work, run assembly lines, engage in clothing production. Conditions are bad--close to what you'd see in a sweatshop. A lot of the people doing these jobs are Southeast Asian workers who come to make money to send back home; a minimum wage job in Korea is still more than they would make at home. And many of them stay WELL past their visas, thus becoming illegal immigrants. No job security, no health insurance, nothing.

[elizajet.livejournal.com]

I would say the majority have very good working conditions, but there are definitely cases where when they arrived, what they were promised never surfaced or their living conditions were sub-par (e.g. two-three teachers living in a one-room apartment being deemed okay living conditions, or the number of hours being drastically increased in reference to contract promises). So, it's not ALL amazing. There are people that get screwed over (like someone I know who was told he had two weeks to find a new job and they weren't going to pay his way back home, despite what the contract says).

There isn't a lot that legal or illegal immigrants can do if there are contract disputes or problems, even if they are fluent in Korean and know the legal system, just due to attitudes and the red tape that encumbers them if they try.

That said, I don't understand the apprehension about the illegal immigrants from the general Korean public. They do work in deplorable conditions in many places (conditions almost all Koreans wouldn't work under), but I don't think most would riot- they are just trying to hold on to their jobs or stay in Korea if they are illegal. If there was a riot, it would literally be one day and the police would round them up and have them deported, no questions asked.

sorry for the tl;dr.

[4minutesluts.livejournal.com]

maybe don't treat them like second class citizens and you won't have to worry

[lydzi.livejournal.com]

Having an homogeneous society is not an excuse anymore within those times. Please. And that "oh foreigners are coming taking my job, my money and my wife" is so bloody old. Will it never change? I mean really?

Humanity. I could almost despair sometimes.

And to quote Neneh Cherry and Youssoun Dour " And when a child is born into this world, It has no concept of the tone the skin is living in". Basically, responsability is yours/ours.

[ichigomilkshake.livejournal.com]

Agreeing with you wholeheartedly. Especially the Youssou Ndour quote.

[cuddly-grizzly.livejournal.com]

immigrants are terrible and only bring trouble.

[lobotronic.livejournal.com]

what.

[geniebsmart.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't think so personally. I mean...they would have to do something bad (like really bad) for me to say "get out." :/ like killing-folks bad

Or were you being sarcastic? .__.

[punkylana.livejournal.com]

oh

[laeryn.livejournal.com]

And Spain, when we started getting immigration. Which is funny bc they only did all the jobs we didn't want anymore (i.e fruit recollection, construction, etc). So yeah, universal, sadly :(

[cairistiona.livejournal.com]

We have it here in the UK. The BNP uses it as a fear-mongering strategy.

[modernabsurdity.livejournal.com]

What about the ever classy EDL?

[elizajet.livejournal.com]

It's stupid over here though. The jobs that the immigrants do are either things that they want them over here for (e.g. English teaching) or jobs that most Koreans wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole (e.g. factory work, entertainers, hostesses)

[modernabsurdity.livejournal.com]

I think this touches upon an important point that Korea strives to create a professional society (why else would school be so intense?) that leaves the working class as second class citizens. What good is having a society full of businessmen, lawyers, etc if no one will clean a toilet or work in manufacturing?

[surisays.livejournal.com]

"He suggested the country considers measures such as a quota for foreign residents and a proper screening system to minimize the side effects from sudden influxes"

wow... racist

[beatification.livejournal.com]

I suggest the country considers measures to dispell social discord and create harmony.

[cairistiona.livejournal.com]

Everyone should watch My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, tbh.

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

MLP solves everything

[lobotronic.livejournal.com]

The reason why immigrant minorites get unhappy, and this unhappiness leads to riots, is because of INEQUALITIES IN THE SYSTEM. Lack of legal, medical, or social security. Stigmas. Racism. Being denied the same rights as the native citizens.

This article does not mention any of these things--they blame the riots solely on the immigrants. As if, unprovoked, the immigrants decide to storm into the streets and hold protests? Really now? These things don't just happen out of nowhere. Cause and effect: bad conditions for immigrants means they speak up to protect their rights. Koreans get scared (not that they don't have a right ot be scared of riots, but the point is that they refuse to admit that THEY are the cause) and the cycle of inequality continues.

In case you are all not aware, in South Korea you must register your group if you want to protest. You have to state what your cause is, what you are doing and where, and obtain a license to hold the protest. Lots of paperwork.
If someone up on the top doesn't like your cause, they may choose not to grant you permission to protest.

"He suggested the country considers measures such as a quota for foreign residents and a proper screening system to minimize the side effects from sudden influxes."
Yeah that's a GREAT idea. Control who gets to come in. I understand screening for criminals, sure--but this kind of immigrant screening has been done before, because of RACISM.
Their worry about immigrants coming in and taking jobs is not completely unfounded, but there is a larger argument there about globalization, a shifting workforce, and the changing value of minimum wage--all of which are swept aside and blamed solely on the fact that the person is an immigrant, part of the Other. Why talk about greater social and political issues, why get to the root of the problem and find a solution, when you can blame it on the foreigner?

If anyone doesn't know what this will lead to, or what it is actually based on PLEASE GOOGLE "EUGENICS". The Korean government won't admit it, but most of their immigration policies are loosely based on the idea of genetic superiority. Screening immigration is a tool used to FILTER out what they don't want. Much of Korean nationalism stems from the idea of a pure-blood nation.

For such an advanced country, SK is pretty fucking far behind in terms of social justice.

[geniebsmart.livejournal.com]

You win the the internets T__T

[luvey.livejournal.com]

just what was in my head.

[modernabsurdity.livejournal.com]

SMH at "pure-blood nation." No one has pure blood, we're all mixed to various degrees. SK, why you gotta be like this?

[nene718.livejournal.com]

good comment

[saoirseangel.livejournal.com]

I don't think that could have possibly been said better.

[hitsujiga.livejournal.com]

that sounds like the crap right-wing parties and other nazis constantly preach here. i hope they overcome their fear of foreigners, bc there isn't anything that could stop globalization rn.