Abstract
An important variable in immigration policy is the immigrant’s regime. Korean immigrants are divided into three types; guest workers, foreign wives of Korean men, foreign compatriots mostly with Chinese passport. South Korea’s immigration policy is based on the guest worker regime, which basically allows foreigners to live for a certain period of time and they are supposed to return back after an acceptable period of time. However, with the recent increase in married migrant women and the increasing number of their children, Korea should now be interested in social integraion policy of immigrants. It is the political right of immigrants that begins this discussion. South Korea was fairly proactive in granting suffrage in local elections for immigrants with permanent residency. However, their turnout is low and has no practical significance. In order to integrate Korean society more efficiently, a variety of integration methods are needed, such as the granting of political rights, participation in advisory bodies, and participation in programs that can encourage understanding of Korean society.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The political rights of groups of immigrants in the U.S. are generally discussed in terms of suffrage and voting rights. Rights such as freedom of assembly and association, for example, other political activities except for them, are regarded as rights as workers rather than as migrants, and are therefore features that are being discussed in the mix with the political rights of ordinary American workers.
- 2.
It is not too much to say that the expansion of the immigrant’s right to be elected as president of US has been fueled by the victory of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the governor’s recall election on October 7, 2003 which was started by the fiscal deficit of 340 billion. The qualifications for the U.S. presidential election are as follows: First, age 35 or older based on the time the president takes office; secondly, living in the U.S. for more than 14 years; thirdly, born in the U.S.; fourthly, an American citizen. Schwarzenegger is a U.S. citizen who immigrated to the U.S. in 1968 at the age of 21 and was born in Austria, Governor Schwarzenegger. He received great attention for his speech at the Republican National Convention on August 31, 2004, and he raised a big debate about his eligibility for the presidential election.
- 3.
In the elections of Article 28 (local constitution) of the German Basic Law (a) …the military (Kreis) and the district (Gemeinde), any person who holds the nationality of a member of the European Community shall also have the right to vote and to vote in accordance with the provisions of the European Community Act.
- 4.
The discussion of granting suffrage to permanent residents of Japan in elections for local governments at that time has also developed as a point of criticizing the Japanese government for its lack of suffrage.
References
Korean
Cho, Y.-H. (2016). “The Relationship between Election and Voting Participation and Immigration Policy of Immigrants in Korea”. Issue Brief, IOM.
Gu, C.-K. (2012). “Increase in migration and change in German immigrant policy”. International Area Studies, 21(1).
Jang, M.-H. et al. (2008). Building a Policy Paradigm for the Transformation into a Multiracial Culture Society: Policies for the Promotion of Multicultural Competence, Current Status of Social Practices and Direction of Development, Seoul: Women’s Policy Institute.
Kim, M. (2007). “France’s Immigration Policy: Success and Failure of the Republican Aging Policy”. Journal of World Area Studies, 25(3).
Kim, T.-G. (2017). “History and prospect of U.S. immigration policy”. International Social Security Review, 1.
Kim, Y.-C. (2011). “Study on the political rights of British and French migrants”. Journal of the Korean Political Parties Association, 10(1).
Ko, S., Kim, M., & Kim, S.-J. (2017). Live-Cycle Language and Culture Education Policy for Resolving Conflicts of Immigrants. Seoul: Economic and Human Society Research Council.
Kwak, W.-S. (2007). Comparison of Diversity Between Countries in Strategies for the Integration of Immigrants. Master Thesis at Hanyang University.
Lee, B.-H. (2014). “International human rights rules and Korean migrant human rights”. Journal of the 21st Century Political Science Association, 24(1).
Lee, K.-Y., & Kim, K.-M. (2010). “Germany’s policies on migrants and suffrage of migrants”. International Regional Studies, 42(2).
Lee, S.-W. (2011). “The suffrage of immigrants in the Multicultural Era”. Journal of Daehan Political Science Association, 19(2).
Lee, Y.-H. (2013). “Studies on the possibility of introducing the elections of Chongju Foreigners”. Digital Policy Studies, 11(3).
English
Gurowitz, A. (1999). “Mobilizing international norms: Domestic actors, immigrants and the Japanese state”. World Politics, 51(3).
Ireland, P. (2000). “Reaping What They Sow: Institutions and Immigrant Political Participation in Western Europe”. In R. Koopmans, P. Statham (eds.), Challenging Immigration and Ethnic Relations Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Joppke, C. (1998). “Why liberal states accept unwanted immigration”. World Politics, 50(2).
Joppke, C. (2017). “Citizenship in immigration states”. In A. Shachat, R. Bauböck, I. Bloemraad, 7 M. Vink (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Citizenship, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kofman, E., Phizacklea, A., Raghuram, P., & Sales, R. (2000). Gender and International Migration in Europe. London and New York: Routledge.
Marshall, T. (1950). Citizenship and Social Class, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Marticiello, M. (2002). “Political Participation, mobilisation and representation of immigrants and their offspring in Europe”. In Rainer Bauböck (ed.), Migration and Citizenship, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Soysal, Y. N. (1994). Limits of Citizenship: Migrants and Postnational Membership in Europe. Chicago:The University of Chicago Press.
Summary Record of the 363rd Meeting, UN ESCOR Commission on Human Rights, 9th Sess, 363rd mtg (1953). http://www.mipex.eu/political-participation. Accessed 2019 Nov 28.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kim, M. (2021). Political Rights of Immigrants in Korea. In: Chu, CP., Park, SC. (eds) Immigration Policy and Crisis in the Regional Context. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6823-1_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6823-1_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-33-6822-4
Online ISBN: 978-981-33-6823-1
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)