The citizenship of foreign workers in South Korea

Welfare policies and budget allocation for migrants in South Korea

“…In view of this prospect, the government needs to engage in a more constructive discussion on how foreign students may be sources of high-skilled migrants (Hawthorne, 2010;Kim, 2013). (Seol, 2005(Seol, , 2012. The EPS resulted in an increase in foreign workers coming to Korea and, at least in principle, in safeguarding nearly all the labor rights of foreign workers.…”

“…In contrast, despite the fact that foreign workers comprise the majority of migrants in Korea, they have essentially been excluded from various social welfare policies because the government policy towards them is based on the principle of rotation which requires them to leave the country after a certain period of time and to get replaced by new workers. For this group of migrants, settlement in Korea is not an option (Chung, 2014;Kim, 2012;Seol, 2005Seol, , 2012Seol and Han, 2004). This paper attempts to provide a comprehensive overview of the major welfare policies for different groups of migrants and to examine whether the current welfare policies are adequately organized and provided with resources to meet the heterogeneous welfare demands of the various migrant groups.…”

The emergence of ethnic entrepreneurs in Seoul, South Korea: globalisation from below

“…Like other nations, Korea must attract both what it classifies as professionals and less‐skilled workers in a ‘bifurcated’ labour policy (Yeoh ). Korean policy therefore attempts to attract foreign talent (professionals and investors) while at the same time restricting the (larger) inflow of less‐skilled workers for construction, manufacturing assembly, and other low‐skill tasks (Seol ). The policy represents that ethnic entrepreneurs are not a major concern of globalisation in Korea.…”

“…The change into the EPP program has brought an explosive increase of foreign workers. For example, the number of legal foreign workers increased from about 200 000 to 500 000 between 2004 and 2010 (Seol ).…”

South Korea as an ‘Ordinary’ Country: A Comparative Inquiry into the Prospects for ‘Permanent’ Immigration to Korea

“…Still, it is likely to create opportunities for legal and political challenges in the future. This is particularly so since the Korean government recently changed its immigration policy to allow both non-skilled ethnic Koreans with foreign citizenship and skilled foreign workers (of any nationality who have at least five years' work experience in Korea) to obtain F-5 status (Seol 2009). In essence, then, the Korean government has already recognised the right to permanent immigration for international migrant workers.…”