THE ROLE OF THE SOUTH KOREA’S GOVERNMENT IMMIGRATION APPROACH IN CIS KOREANS’ SOCIO-CULTURAL INTEGRATION

Abstract

In this thesis, I study South Korea’s immigrant admission and incorporation approach and how it affects the socio-cultural integration of ethnic Korean migrants from Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries of the former Soviet Union. South Korea’s immigrant admission and incorporation approach is characterized by liberal admission policies for labor migrants, specifically co-ethnics, but restrictive policies for a secure future, including family reunification, permanent residence, and citizenship. I argue that this approach places CIS Koreans in a state of limbo, where they are uncertain whether they are short-term visitors or long-term residents, ethnic Koreans or labor migrants. Because the South Korea’s approach resembles an assimilation approach, socio-cultural integration which is proxied as language acquisition in this thesis is a first and significant step for integration. I conduct narrative interviews, online surveying, and online observations. The interview answers show that CIS Koreans indeed feel uncertain about their future due to the ‘secure future’ policies. The narratives of the interviewees confirm that the CIS Koreans would be more willing to invest resources into language learning process in the case if the policies for family reunification, permanent residence and citizenship were more liberal.