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Calls growing to protect rights of foreign workers and migrant wives
By Lee Kyung-min
Korea is facing growing calls to step up efforts to better protect the rights of foreign workers and migrant wives here. Amid the surging number of foreigners, the nation lags behind international standards, showing reluctance in ratifying the International Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and their Families, despite repeated recommendations by the United Nations (UN).
The need to recognize their rights follows the increasing number of the particular demographic here.
According to statistics released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG), Friday, which was International Migrants Day, the number of foreigners living in the capital stood at 457,806, up 10.3 percent from a year earlier. They account for 4.5 percent of Seoul's total population.
SMG began monitoring the movement in 2000.
The figure is notable as the number of Korean nationals in the city has been on a steady decline for the past three years, according to an official.
The increase is due to the reentering of foreigners, who left the county following their work visa expiration, according to the official.
The Ministry of Justice conducts screening for issuing new work visas, for those who left the country for more than a year but less than two years.
Of the foreigners living here, by profession, about a quarter of them, or 25.5 percent, were workers, and another equal proportion were ethnic Koreans with foreign nationalities; more than 10 percent were migrant wives, followed by 7 percent being students.
By nationality, more than half were Korean Chinese, accounting for 57 percent at 262,545, followed by Chinese at 67,340, Americans at 32,699 and Vietnamese at 13,596.
The district with the largest number of foreigners was Yeongdeungpo-gu with 66,952, followed by Guro, 53,191; Gwanak, 32,996; and Geumcheon, 32,974.
Voices are growing that Korea should be more open toward foreigners, with some speaking out for the need for government efforts to help assimilate them. Some experts say that Korea should consider immigration as a possibility for future growth for the country, which suffers from a chronic low birthrate.
Korea's birthrate, or the average number of children each woman chooses to have in her lifetime, stands at around 1.2, much lower than the average of 1.71 for members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Such a low birthrate coupled with an increasing reluctance of the young to get married, especially among young women, are reasonable grounds that Korea is in practical need of embracing more foreigners.
"Koreans should strive to maximize the positive effects of a multicultural society and to actively work to be more accepting towards foreigners living here," the official said.
