Multicultural family benefits face review over 'fairness' concerns
A pedestrian walks past a mural on Ansan Multicultural Food Street in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, July 26, 2023. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Ministries, local governments examine whether support disadvantages other households
The government and local authorities nationwide are launching a formal review of benefits for multicultural families after President Lee Jae Myung raised concerns that some programs unfairly disadvantage other households.
The Ministry of Justice sent an official request to local governments late last month, asking them to provide details of their support policies for such families. Based on the findings, the government is expected to review whether any of the programs amount to what the president described as “reverse discrimination” against other households.
According to city officials, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has begun examining all 26 of its multicultural family support programs for potential fairness concerns.
“The mayor spoke about this, and we first need to establish which programs the relevant departments are running and how exactly they operate,” an official told The Korea Times on Monday. “That is where things stand at the moment.”
Among the programs under review is the city’s subsidized postpartum care initiative, which places mothers from multicultural families in the second-priority admission category alongside groups like people of national merit. Mothers from multicultural families pay 1.25 million won ($930) for a two-week stay — half the amount charged to general applicants.
Seoul Learn, the city’s free online education service, also applies different eligibility rules. Children from general households must meet an income ceiling of 80 percent of the nation’s standard median income, while those from multicultural families can use the service regardless of household income.
During an Oct. 29 press briefing on Seoul’s budget plan for 2027, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said policy support for multicultural families remained necessary, but called for more carefully designed eligibility rules where applicants compete for limited assistance.
“If multicultural families are given preferential treatment even in competitive selection for assistance, other citizens may feel disadvantaged. In such cases, the eligibility rules need to be designed more carefully,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province may adjust its own support measures, including child care subsidies for undocumented foreign children, in line with its budget priorities for next year, a provincial official said. No specific changes have been decided, the official added.
Separately, the provincial government recently decided to abolish its Immigration and Social Affairs Bureau as part of an organizational restructuring, roughly two years after the bureau was established, according to another provincial official.
The Ministry of Education is also gathering information to assess the fairness of priority admission rules for children from multicultural families at child care centers.
“We are reviewing the data to determine how many children from such families have been given priority over those from other households in child care admissions,” a ministry official said.
In Gimje, North Jeolla Province, officials are examining a program that provides round-trip airfare and travel expenses for multicultural families visiting their countries of origin. A city official said the program typically supports only three or four families a year and screens applicants rather than providing assistance automatically.
“We review eligibility criteria, and those who have visited their home country within the past five years are excluded,” the official said. “Because this is not unconditional assistance, I think the program is likely to continue next year.”
However, the official stressed that no final decisions have been made.