Local Citizenship and Policy Agenda for ‘Foreign Residents’ in East Asia

Abstract

State policies to incorporate immigrants and foreign residents into destination countries of East Asia, especially in South Korea (hereafter ‘Korea’) and Japan, have been institutionalized incrementally in order to respond to the increase in migration inflows. Although both Korea and Japan adhere to the identity of ‘non-immigration country’, significant policy changes to coordinate emerging issues related to cultural diversity and ethnic minorities have been extended for a decade. The Korean government established a legal scheme and policy plans to provide proper treatment to foreign residents in 2006. Furthermore, policy suggestions from civil society organizations advocating for human rights for foreign workers and foreign spouses have been selectively integrated into the agenda of central government in Korea (Yoon, 2010). Before changes in Korea, in Japan ‘multicultural coexistence’ policies initiated by several local governments were widely discussed. The term ‘multicultural coexistence’ emerged in the early 1990s, particularly in localities with a certain number of foreign residents where social integration and antidiscrimination were put on the table to alleviate the challenges faced by the Japanese vis-à-vis foreign residents (Nagy, 2008, p. 22).