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Civic Stratification and Spatial Division of Immigrants in Korean Migration Policy: Differentiation of Migrant Workers’ Visa Status Based on Ethnicity and Gender

  • Journal of the Association of Korean Geographers
  • Abbr : JAKG
  • 2020, 9(3), pp.567-585
  • DOI : 10.25202/JAKG.9.3.8
  • Publisher : Association of Korean Geographers
  • Research Area : Social Science > Geography
  • Received : November 28, 2020
  • Accepted : December 12, 2020
  • Published : December 31, 2020

Hyunjoo Jung 1

1서울대학교 환경대학원 환경계획학과

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This paper claims the civic stratification of immigrants is underway through the Korean migration regime and further fortified through their spatial division. Based on Lockwood (1996) and Morris (2002; 2003), the paper explores the civic stratification of immigrants in Korea and highlights the different civic rights which stem from the intersection of ethnicity, class, and gender are granted to different immigrant groups. It constructs dual control over migrant workers based on ethnicity generating socio-spatial division between non-Korean male-manufacturing workers (E-9) stuck around medium-sized cities and ethnic Korean female-service workers, for example, with greater job flexibility in the capital region. The overseas Koreans are, however, further divided along with class into elite overseas Korean (F-4) and migrant workers (H-2) showing a complex combination of ethnicity, class, and gender in civic stratification. Different civic rights cause spatial division among different groups by affecting mobility, job opportunities, and accessibility to infrastructure. Uneven regional development and spatial hierarchy where Seoul and the capital region have supremacy over the other areas provide the foundation of civic stratification of immigrants, suggesting civic stratification as socio-spatial processes.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.