Policies toward foreigners have taken on increasing significance in Korea where the number of foreign residents has topped the 1 million mark, accounting for over 2 percent of the total population.
 
Expatriates who have stayed here for more than 90 days accounted for 1.8 percent of the Korean population estimated at 49.35 million, according to the recent data released by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security.

Migrant workers totaled 437,727, nearly half of the immigrants. The numbers of spouses and children from international marriages are 144,385 (16.2 percent), and 58,007 (6.5 percent), respectively.

Together with short-term foreign residents here, non-Korean residents totaled 1,145,660, over 2 percent of the total population, according to the Korea Immigration Service. The number is expected to rise to 2.9 million in 2020, or about 5 percent of the population.

In recent years, the Korean Government has introduced plans to relax immigration and naturalization rules in a bid to sharpen global competitiveness with foreign human resources. Under the banner of "multiculturalism," it has also crafted various policies to promote social integration among non-Koreans.

The Justice Ministry established the Korea Immigration Service last year to comprehensively deal with social integration, immigration and naturalization. The ministry also enacted the nation's first law aimed at guaranteeing better treatment for foreigners in Korea in July 2007.

Efforts for Expat Families

The Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs is currently implementing a support project for the families of foreign residents, which is divided into four major stages.

The four stages are: preparation ahead of arrival; starting a family; settling and raising children; and helping those families develop useful skills.

Before foreigners arrive, they will be able to obtain information about life in Korea through consultations with international marriage or immigration management officials in the Philippines and Vietnam, according to the ministry.

Cultural classes - regarding understanding the differences in cultures, conjugal relations, the roles of parents and communication methods - for the Korean spouses are also held at the 80 branches of the Transnational Marriage and Family Support Center located nationwide, its officials said. Private visits are also made by Korean language instructors for foreign brides and they will be encouraged to form their own groups to help keep their identity.

To provide a wider range of information for foreigners, a quarterly magazine that contains essential living information for foreign residents is being published in different languages - with the goal of translating it into five different languages - and an interpretation and translation hotline is expected to be launched by next year, the ministry said.

Policies to Attract More International Brains

Through the "World-Class University" (WCU) project, Korea seeks to nurture promising new fields in basic sciences and develop interdisciplinary studies by attracting more academic from abroad.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology set aside a budget of 200 billion won (about $13.2 million) for the WCU project to be invested between 2008 and 2012.

The applications for WCU grants are categorized into three types. Type 1 is to set up new academic departments or specialized majors with at least 30 percent of the faculty from abroad. Type 2 is to hire researchers from overseas universities, think tanks and companies as full-time teaching staff for existing departments. Type 3 invites renowned academics, such as Nobel laureates, who will be required to stay in Korea for at least two months a year.

As the result of the type 3 evaluation, the Education Ministry announced in November that a total of 81 academics have been appointed by 30 universities. Starting next year, they will teach students and take part in 79 projects with their Korean fellows.

They include nine Nobel laureates, 18 members of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, 12 members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and three members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Source: KOREA, December 2008