The Retreat of Multiculturalism? Explaining the South Korean Exception

Abstract

In the past 8 years, South Korea (hereafter Korea) has experienced a multicultural explosion-a growing emphasis on multiculturalism in both popular and political discourse. After demonstrating how multiculturalism has been framed as a means, indicator, and object of individual and national development, this article focuses on the improvement of global rank as one reason for the shift in Korea. In the course of diffusing the discourse and policies of multiculturalism, international intergovernmental organizations frame cultural diversity, and tolerance as a matter of development: Cultural diversity is necessary for individual and national development, and the more developed a society is, the more tolerant its people are. Korea's self-perception as a nation in the middle of the global economic and symbolic hierarchy encourages multiculturalism as a way to move toward the core. The Korean case then suggests a possible reason for the retreat of multiculturalism in Western Europe. In Western European countries, the failure of multiculturalism is blamed on (illiberal) immigrant minorities rather than on majority groups, so that retreating from multiculturalism does not threaten perceptions of liberality, democracy, or core status. In Korea, in contrast, achieving multicultural tolerance is construed as a task that nonimmigrant majority Koreans must achieve in order for the nation to gain the status of a truly developed country.

Enhancing Teacher Self-Efficacy in Multicultural Classrooms and School Climate: The Role of Professional Development in Multicultural Education in the United States and South Korea

“…Not surprisingly, despite its potential for both teachers and students, a retreat from a multicultural education policy has often been witnessed in Korea and many other Asian countries (N. H.-J. Kim, 2015;M. Lee et al, 2019).…”

“…Moreover, some teachers also have cultural biases that are reflected in their classrooms, with many refusing to integrate multicultural perspectives into their teaching because they believe that multicultural education works only for immigrant students (Chang, 2017). Not surprisingly, despite its potential for both teachers and students, a retreat from a multicultural education policy has often been witnessed in Korea and many other Asian countries (N. H.-J.…”

A SWOT Analysis of Multiculturalism in Canada, Europe, Mauritius, and South Korea

“…Other countries (or organizations) implement a wide-ranging set of policies and practices. This is the case for government policy in Australia and Canada and, perhaps surprisingly, in South Korea (Banting & Kymlicka, 2013; Kim, 2015, this issue).…”

“…Demographic diversity is also occurring, albeit on a more modest scale, in South Korea, a nation that has not previously considered itself a country of immigration. As Kim (2015, this issue) writes, as of late 2012, 3% of the Korean population was foreign-born, almost 1.5 million individuals.…”

“…Unlike Canada or Mauritius, South Korea (simply referred to as “Korea” from here on) does not have a long history of multiethnic and multilingual populations coexisting with each other. As a result of low birth rates, Korea began accepting immigrants (primarily foreign brides and workers) to stem declining population, an aging workforce, and to attract highly skilled foreign workers (see Kim, 2015, this issue). Public discourse on multiculturalism ( damunhwa ) took off around 2005 as Korean leaders declared that multiculturalism is now a demographic reality ( dainjong damunhwa sahoe ).…”