ROUNDTABLE Envoys share insights on diversity, visions for inclusive Korea

Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin, far right, and Gender Equality and Family Minister Chung Young-ai, fourth from right, pose with female foreign ambassadors to Korea during a roundtable on diversity and multiculturalism at The Korea Times' office in central Seoul, Feb. 24. From left are Dutch Ambassador Joanne Doornewaard, Rwandan Ambassador Dalila Yasmin Amri Sued, Philippine Ambassador Maria Theresa Dizon-De Vega, Australian Ambassador Catherine Raper, Minister Chung, Indian Ambassador Sripriya Ranganathan, EU Ambassador Maria Castillo Fernandez and Oh. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Kwon Mee-yoo

• Published Mar 7, 2022 2:37 PM KST
• Updated Mar 7, 2022 6:46 PM KST

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Korea, as it continues its rapid development, is displaying greater diversity, both ethnically and culturally, as a result of international migration.

In time for the occasion of International Women's Day, The Korea Times hosted a roundtable with female ambassadors and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to share insights on different levels of diversity around the world on Feb. 24.

Six female ambassadors took part in the roundtable to share their home cultures' experiences on diversity and multiculturalism: Sripriya Ranganathan of India, Dalila Yasmin Amri Sued of Rwanda, Joanne Doornewaard of the Netherlands, Maria Castillo Fernandez of the EU, Catherine Raper of Australia and Maria Theresa Dizon-De Vega of the Philippines.

Oh Young-jin, president-publisher of The Korea Times, called for policies to help immigrants and their children better assimilate into Korean culture.

"How to help immigrants and the children of multiracial families to have a comfortable life ― living, working and enjoying themselves as part of greater Korea ― will serve as a litmus test for the future of Korea as a diverse country," Oh said in the opening remarks.

Gender Equality and Family Minister Chung Young-ai said the number of foreign residents in South Korea amounted to 2.15 million, accounting for 4.1 percent of the total population as of 2020.

"Considering that immigrants struggle the most upon arrival, the Multicultural Family Support Centers offer interpretation and translation services, Korean lessons and other support to marriage immigrants who just came to Korea to help them adjust to their new life in Korea and form bonds with new Korean families," Chung said.

Just as more people immigrate to Korea and multicultural families take a greater presence, the country has also seen an increase in the number of multicultural students, from 38,678 in 2011 to 160,056 in 2021.

"Immigrant parents I met were very concerned about their children's further education and future career paths and frustrated over the lack of information. It is also true that teenagers from multicultural families often face social prejudice and discrimination inside and outside of schools," the minister said.

To embrace multicultural families as integral members of Korean society, the ministry aims to create a policy environment incorporating cultural sensitivity, strengthen multiculturalism awareness education for civil servants and assess the impact of multiculturalism.

Philippine Ambassador Dizon-De Vega addressed the importance of human rights as one of the policy goals to achieve multiculturalism.

"At the very basic core of all these efforts to promote multiculturalism is also promoting the issue of human rights. Multiculturalism should be, I believe, based on a respect for human rights, the right to enjoy, the right to take part in the cultural, social and economic life of any society you may find yourself in," Dizon-De Vega said.

"With the new policies of the Korean government, we're moving towards the right direction ― an acceptance and an appreciation for where multicultural, multiracial, multiethnic families are coming from."

Indian Ambassador Ranganathan pointed out that Korea has inherent diversity even though it appears in many ways to be a homogenous society.

"As outsiders, when we look at Korea, we see a really homogeneous country ― one language, one people and one country. That's what we see from outside, but when we come and live here, we realize that there are so many communities, so many regions, still one language, but there is a certain intrinsic diversity even in Korea," she said.

Ambassador Ranganathan said it is important to set up policies and change perceptions and value systems in accepting multiculturalism.

"In many ways, the legal system and the law precede what the society is willing to take. And that is the way it ought to be, I think: the government has to show the way that could be ahead of the times, but which will at least allow the next generation to live up to that philosophy and vision and this is what we have seen in terms of the evolution of India," she said.

Rwanda has similarities with Korea in homogeneity, the country's ambassador noted.

"We also have one language and when you speak one language for a long time, you realize that you kind of have reference points of your culture and not necessarily have access to other cultures," Ambassador Amri Sued said.

Rwanda has three official languages: Kinyarwanda (as the principal language), French and English. The ambassador said more official languages helped the country's integration.

"We feel that it has given the youth the chance to be more diverse and global. Due to our history, unfortunately, we know the worst of division in society. It starts small, but sometimes it becomes way bigger. Because of our history, we felt that we need to work on ourselves and make sure that the newer generation is way more open and way more receiving... Each generation is way more welcoming and hospitable, because they feel more connected to others and they can communicate, ask and get to know them. I think the issue of acceptance takes time."

Understanding of multiculturalism are slightly different in more advanced countries that receive a higher number of immigrants than the number of citizens who leave for other countries.

EU Ambassador Castillo said that her family is from a multicultural family, but "in a more privileged sense." The ambassador explained that there was a lot of internal migration among European countries in the 1960s, 70s and still today.

"There is this continued internal migration not only from the countries that we receive refugees or migrants from. So (migration in Europe) is an ongoing process that has been there for very long," Castillo said.

"Demography is a big problem for Korea, also for our societies. That's why we have to integrate migrants as part of what we are. You need to open up to multiculturalism and change mindsets... You need to educate Koreans to accept that multiculturalism is a good thing and we can learn that these people are here to help us and they are one of us."

The Dutch ambassador said the Netherlands does not use the term multiculturalism anymore. Instead it uses the words “inclusion” and “diversity” as the country has a long history of being open to immigration. However, Doornewaard clarified that those who want to become Dutch have to accept the values of the Netherlands.

"Migration had a big influence on our population. After World War II, we needed the skilled labor and the government policy of letting many people in. They came from our former colonies and from southern Europe. We welcomed them and their families as we needed the workers to build up our country," Ambassador Doornewaard said.

The number of migrants continued to increase in the Netherlands as the country saw an influx from countries like Turkey and Morocco and then a third wave as people came from Iran and Iraq seeking asylum.

"We have a very small country. In the beginning, it was this openness of accepting everybody. But now, if you want to live in Amsterdam, if you want to be Dutch, there are certain values that we cherish and you have to accept. If you live in the Netherlands, you are able to speak your language and can have a religion, but you also have to accept homosexuality. These are the things that we stand with."

Australia is another multicultural society with over a quarter of its population born overseas.

"For us, it's a whole society's issue to tackle and foster multiculturalism. We do not just do this because it's the right thing to do, but also because it's good for our country and economy. We see our diversity of people as a real strength... Australia would not be the country we are without a very diverse population built on many decades of strong immigration," Ambassador Raper said.

"We work very hard to ensure that there's a balance of rights and responsibilities within our society to create something that is stable and resilient and harmonious where everyone has the opportunity to contribute to and benefit from Australia's prosperity."

In closing, Minister Chung spoke of how she drew inspiration from the ambassadors' insights and experiences with diversity and inclusiveness.

"We are starting out on this journey and I came to the realization that it will be very important for us to get the first step right in our policymaking as well, so that we can provide sufficient protection to migrants as they come into our society and so that they can become important members of our society as they live up to their potential."