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A Christian Political Ethical Study on the Difficult Possibility of ‘Hospitality towards Migrants’ in Sovereign States: Focusing on the ‘Hostility’ and ‘Indifference’ of Korean Conservative Protestantism

  • The Korean Journal of Chiristian Social Ethics
  • Abbr : 기사윤
  • 2024, (59), pp.185-240
  • Publisher : The Society Of Korean Christian Social Ethics
  • Research Area : Humanities > Christian Theology
  • Received : July 15, 2024
  • Accepted : August 12, 2024
  • Published : August 31, 2024

Hye-Ryung Kim 1

1이화여자대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The world today faces severe social, political, and international conflicts due to the cross-border migration of vulnerable individuals, such as foreign migrant workers and refugees. Despite various reception measures by developed countries and international efforts, significant breakthroughs in resolving migration issues have not been achieved. This study, in its first part, employs Jacques Derrida’s theory of hospitality to explore the aporia of the ‘impossibility of unconditional hospitality’ and the ‘possibility of conditional hospitality.’ It further argues that the core issue of hospitality towards migrants, namely the ‘right to stay,’ is obstructed because it must be sanctioned by the ‘sovereign state.’ Through this analysis, the study aims to highlight the necessity for political participation by citizens to improve the conditional laws of hospitality in sovereign states. In the latter part of the study, the focus shifts to analyzing the national perspectives of Korean conservative Protestantism to investigate the causes of hostility and indifference towards migrants. This analysis aims to demonstrate that Christian farright politics, which aspires to the vision of a ‘Christian nation,’ inevitably leans towards a politics of hostility towards foreigners. Meanwhile, it also shows that evangelicalism, which understands the relationship between church and state as a pseudo-separation, tends to exhibit indifference towards political actions aimed at welcoming migrants.

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.