Korea urged to adopt open immigration policy

Experts call for accepting more immigrants to address population decline

By Kim Se-jeong

For decades, Korea was a country that sent its people abroad, creating a Korean diaspora of nearly 7 million scattered across the globe. But the nation began accepting immigrants in the 1980s in line with its economic progress.

In 2020, they're often seen in restaurants and shops serving at tables or washing dishes. Near university campuses, convenience store counters are staffed by international students. In Daerim-dong, southwestern Seoul, where people seeking daily manual work gather in the early morning, ethnic Koreans from China and young Southeast Asian men have replaced local Koreans.

At farms, they are hired to pick muskmelon, strawberries, lettuce, tomatoes, garlic and onions. They're also the main workforce for small factories in the countryside. In rural villages, it's common to see young wives from Vietnam and Laos taking care of their children and helping their Korean husbands around the farm.

As of Dec. 31, 2019, the number of migrants staying in Korea for more than three months was around 1.7 million. Together with short-term visitors, the total was estimated around 2.5 million.

The number of migrants increased sharply over the last decade ― in 2009, the total was only around 900,000.

However, as a technically mostly homogeneous society, Korea has not been so friendly to them. Government policy has also focused on sending low-skilled immigrants back when their visas expire, as the administration wants to attract highly talented professionals to come here. But most aren't interested in moving to Korea.

Change is coming, as Korea is seeing its population decrease. The total population is expected to shrink from this year, and the working population has already started to decline. Some research centers projected Korea's population will be halved by 2100.

Immigration experts say whether people like it or not, Korea will have to accept more immigrants to address the shrinking population and are urging the government to move fast to overhaul its policies to make Korea more friendly to them.

"I don't think we have any options at this point. We are running out of time to respond adequately to the shrinking working population and growing elderly population. We need to take immigration into policy consideration actively to solve the problem," said Chung Ki-seon, a researcher from the Institute for Social Development and Policy Research at Seoul National University.

Kang Dong-kwan, director of the Migration Research and Training Center based in Seoul, said: "the government spent a lot of money on boosting the birthrate, but that didn't succeed. If we use immigration policy to tackle the population decrease strategically, this could be very useful."

Estimates vary but some project that in 2035 Korea will need almost 5 million additional immigrants to counter the fall in the working population. Kang said, "Looking the way the number of migrant workers is increasing now, the number of migrants to Korea could reach as high as 10 million by 2040."

History of immigration policy

Immigrants started to arrive in Korea in the late 1980s through a government scheme. With the economy growing fast, small businesses had difficulty finding workers domestically, and the government invited workers from Asia and ethnic Koreans in China and Central Asian countries.

The system was refined over the following decades, leading to the Employment Permit System in 2004. Currently, the number of low-skilled migrant workers in Korea is around 230,000.

In the 2000s, a big influx of marriage migrants also arrived.

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"After the World Cup, the number of international marriages grew exponentially," Seol Dong-hoon, a professor from Jeonbuk National University, said.

The influx of marriage migrants brought about meaningful changes to Korean society.

"They created a multiracial boom in Korea, making Koreans talk about diversity and think about how to live with them. And the government rolled out programs to help them integrate into Korean society which still serves as a backbone of the current policy," Chung said. "Also, we shouldn't forget their contribution to keeping up the birthrate in Korea." The number of marriage migrants is estimated at 330,000.

Currently, the immigration policy is handled separately by different branches of government: the Ministry of Labor covering migrant workers, the Ministry of Gender Equality of Family for marriage migrants, the Ministry of Education for international students, the Ministry of Justice covering visa status and other administrative affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handling ethnic Koreans.

In 2008, the government at the time drafted an Immigration Policy Plan to look at the issue holistically and ensure policy coordination among ministries. A high-level government committee was also launched to achieve the goal, but both attempts fell short.

The experts chastised the government for failing to comprehend the scale of the population crisis facing Korea.

"The population bonus is over for Korea. The time for onus is coming. Let's say all women in childbearing age will have two babies from now on ― this will not happen for sure, but let's suppose it. Even then, we will need 25 years before they enter the job market. Until then, how will Korea maintain its workforce? That's how urgent the problem is," Chung said.

Kang said the current government needs a discussion on long-term population policy first that it can hand off.

"Experts and government officials have to come together to decide on what Korea wants in terms of its future population. Having that agreed, we can start to think about how many immigrants we need and how to bring them in."

Chung recommended Korea should revise the policy to offer low-skilled workers the chance to become long-term immigrants, permanent residents and Korean citizens. Under the current system, they can stay no more than five years with the possibility to renew their visa one more time.

"Unlike the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Korea is not a very attractive destination for immigrants. Instead of focusing on attracting people who aren't interested in moving to Korea, the government should consider selecting these low-skilled workers who wish to stay here longer and give them a chance to stay," Chung said.

Seol said Korea can benchmark Germany in attracting highly talented people. "If a Google employee wants to move to Germany, the German government issues a permanent residence right away."

Kang, on the other hand, stressed the importance of government efforts to change hostile public perception of immigrants.

"Korea takes pride in its homogeneity and Koreans are in general hostile to immigrants. Changing this perception is important," the director said. "For example, I would suggest the government run public ads explaining how important diversity is for Korea."

Chung echoed Kang. "Koreans know a lot of bad stories involving immigrants, but know little about, for example, the migrant workers' contributions to the Korean economy. Look at all the affordable vegetables on your dining table ― these are only possible because they work on farms from sunup to dark for a small amount of money."

Experts agreed on creating a new government agency to encompass all immigration-related programs.

"It's necessary. To implement policies more effectively, the government must channel resources into one single organization which will look at the big picture and assign programs to ministries," Kang said.

Launching a new government agency has danced on the lips of experts and policy makers for decades, but it hasn't come to fruition yet.

Seol said it is only a matter of time until the agency is created.

"Almost all OECD member states have such an agency. Japan, after years of delay, opened its agency last year. Taiwan also has an agency. We will have one also."