The Concept of damunhwa or multiculturalism in Korean law (한국 법률에서의 ‘다문화’의 개념에 관한 연구)

Yongjeon Choi (최용전)

The Concept of damunhwa or multiculturalism in Korean law

Public Land Law Review
Abbr : KPLLR
2019, 87(), pp.845-861
Publisher : Korean Public Land Law Association
Research Area : Social Science > Law
Received : July 31, 2019
Accepted : August 20, 2019
Published : August 27, 2019

Yongjeon Choi ¹

¹대진대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

As of March 2019, the total population of Korea is 51,833,175 and there are 2,379,805 foreign nationals. The ratio of foreign residents to total Korean population is 4.59%. Korea is a multicultural society. Therefore, in the multicultural policy centering on 'multicultural families', it is necessary to shift the center of gravity to a multicultural policy centering on foreigners, including multicultural families. We will examine the concept of 'multiculturalism' in Korean law and try to explore the concept of 'multiculturalism', which enlarges the object. There is no direct reference to multiculturalism in the Constitution. However, the principle of cultural state, international pacifism, guarantees of legal status of foreigners, and acknowledgment of fundamental rights of foreigners show that multicultural society is recognized. In addition, about 49 laws, including the Multicultural Family Support Act and the Basic Law on the Treatment of Foreigners in Korea, prescribe multiculturalism, but most of them are about multicultural family support. In the long run, the population of the Republic of Korea will decrease and the number of foreign residents is expected to increase. In order to cope with this phenomenon, there should be a central administrative body that can integrate the foreign policy departments that are differentiated into each sector into one, and coordinate the policy for each sector from the social integration level, with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family as the central organization. It is also necessary to establish a basic law on the legal status of foreigners, such as the Basic Law on the Treatment of Foreigners and the Law on the Protection and Promotion of Cultural Diversity. Multicultural policies should respect and share the diverse cultures of different countries in order to respect cultural diversity and to accept good culture. Multicultural policies should be developed to harmonize the heterogeneity of youth culture, women culture, and local culture within the system. In other words, the area of culture in which multicultural policies are targeted is also expanding. Now, for the breakthrough of multicultural policy, we should extend the horizon to multicultural society with diverse cultures such as foreign workers and illegal immigrants, rather than accepting the concept of multiculturalism as a premise of 'family'. In other words, it is necessary to expand the scope of multicultural policies such as unmarried foreigners and foreign married couples with permanent residence, foreigners and foreign married couples who are staying to obtain permanent residence, and to provide them with legal, institutional Equipment shall be provided. By expanding the concept of multiculturalism in this way, foreigners in Korea should have the same legal status as the people of the Republic of Korea. For foreigners in Korea, nationality refers only to the area of origin, and should not be a reason for discrimination. All foreign nationals shall have their rights and responsibilities in proportion to their ability and status. They also need to ensure substantive equality. And we should make a legal system so that we can choose ourselves whether we will be assimilated into our culture, whether we will live in harmony with our culture while maintaining the culture of our own country, and can live a life worthy of such a decision.

KEYWORDS

Korea, Concept, damunhwa, multiculturalism, multicultural society, Constitution, Law, foreign residents

KJCKorea
Journal Central

Public Land Law Review 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 1.14