Embrace diversity

Korea is now a multicultural society. The OECD definition of a multicultural or multiracial country is one where more than 5 percent of the total population is foreign-born. Korea is at 4.8 percent, with numbers climbing every year. And as times change, so must our old ways.

Despite these figures, Korea still views itself as a racially homogenous society. This means that those who do not fit this demographic are almost immediately alienated, leaving them vulnerable to harassment and bullying that hinder their well-being and opportunities in Korea. As I volunteered at my local center for immigrants in Korea, I heard many stories about discrimination from both parents and students.

To tackle this issue, Korea should make education on diversity, inclusivity and antiracism a mandatory part of its public school curriculum, both for students and teachers. As a student in the U.S., where racially motivated micro- and macroaggressions of any kind are not tolerated, I think Korea would benefit from schools taking a stronger stance on promoting inclusivity.

By interviewing immigrant parents and students in Korea, I've learned that immigrant students often face racially motivated bullying but do not get proper help through reporting. "My son came back from school in the fourth grade with injuries on his legs," said a Filipina mother who only agreed to the fake name of Laura living in Seoul. "It seemed like other students hurt him because he looked slightly different than the rest of his classmates. Similar events had happened before since kindergarten. I remember asking the teacher to investigate the case back then, but I couldn't properly get the CCTV recordings checked."

Another Filipina mother who did not give her name mentioned identity-based harassment her son faced at school: "His classmates kept asking him if he ate 'Pagpag,' a Filipino term for preparing food from leftover meat in dumpsters in the slums. I told my son to politely explain to his peers that he wasn't poor just because he was from the Philippines." The throughline among these events is that repeated maltreatment is not taken seriously at school due to a lack of education on nondiscrimination and antiracism.

These instances are also common outside of the classroom, where immigrant students often encounter strangers saying slurs at them. "I get called slurs ... frequently, and other teens my age call me the N-word, even if I do not know them," shared one student. "I believe they think it's cool to say it, so I have to tell them to stop." Such examples illustrate that the cultural norms surrounding inclusivity in Korea are outdated, likely because Korean education never created a curriculum about coexisting with people of different backgrounds.

Historically, Korea has been a racially homogenous society, but as more immigrant students come to Korea, a curriculum on the importance of respecting differences in culture and heritage will be key. A mandatory class on antiracism and a culture of banning and punishing racist behavior will help welcome the international community.

Of course, education on what is and isn't acceptable behavior does not solve racism; indeed, systemic racist policies and implicit biases still disadvantage many people of different backgrounds in the U.S., despite the educational culture of shunning discrimination. Nonetheless, the blatant and ignorant ways that immigrants in Korea are treated — such as physical and explicit verbal abuse — indicate that there is little effort from the educational system to prevent the marginalization of certain communities.

I hope new efforts are made to make Korea a better environment for immigrants.

Lee Jin-min (jlee22@exeter.edu) is a senior student and newspaper editor-in-chief at Phillips Exeter Academy in the U.S.