Contested Governance in the Making of Multicultural Societies: Labor Migration and International Marriages in South Korea

In an era of globalization, migration-induced demographic changes play a major role in the transformation of societies across the region of East Asia. Population dynamics due to aging, fertility decline, gender imbalance, and the concomitant inflow of foreign nationals through labor migration and International marriages unavoidably changes the social norms and practices of societies in South Korea. In this change, the migration of labor and International marriages is a catalyst for reconfiguring social and economic structures both in the regions of origin and destination. Furthermore, migration-related issues such as human rights, trafficking, NGO activism, trans-nationalism, and social integration become one of the defining challenges in South Korea. This paper traces the historical pattern and governance of migration in parallel with demographic transitions and analyzes policy changes in the governance of migration. It further examines the challenges of incorporation and social integration in the form of multiculturalism. In order to make migration transit into a symbiotic mutual form of coexistence, the paper sets to propose policy priorities for an open society with cultural diversity. Korea should go through a drastic paradigm shift to open its door and embrace foreigners as members of and contributors to society. By so doing, we could develop a multi-layered framework of migration as an integral part of global governance.