This is the last in a three-part series highlighting the need for what commentators call a Ministry of Immigration in the incoming Park Geun-hye administration. ㅡ ED
By Park Si-soo
In order for the country to make a smooth transition into becoming a multiethnic society, it is essential to establish an independent “control tower” of state bodies and push forward with policies on immigration and expatriate affairs on its own, said Rep. Jasmine Lee of the ruling Saenuri Party.
The most desirable form may be a ministry-level organization, headed by a Cabinet member, the Philippine-born naturalized politician said. Though less powerful, a standing committee under the aegis of the presidential office or Prime Minister’s Office could be a secondary choice, she said.
Currently there are two non-standing committees dealing with immigration affairs under the Prime Minister’s office but they are “too weak to serve as an arbitrator,” she added.
“We need a control tower with legal authority to come up with policies, materialize them through negotiations with ministries and other state bodies involved and arbitrate conflicts that emerge during the process,” Lee said. “Its absence has caused various inefficiencies.”
There are as many as eleven ministries and smaller state bodies that are involved in the making of policies on immigration and expats. They have carried out the task on their own without a control tower, causing substantial budget waste, miscommunication and other inefficiencies.
“I will continue to promote the idea of creating a control tower in order to get it materialized as early as possible,” she said.
The idea was suggested to President Park Geun-hye by the lawmaker during a recent luncheon, according to Jasmine Lee’s secretary.
Many advanced countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada and Denmark have an independent state controller tasked to do things illustrated in the lawmaker’s suggestion. Japan is moving to create an organization with similar functions.
“As was the case in Germany and France whose foreign population is estimated at 7.2 million and 5 million respectively, an increase in the number of foreign nationals on Korean soil will end up causing various forms of social conflict,” she said.
“There are people who already speak up against the nation’s transition into multiethnic society, claiming it only tarnishes people’s national identity, jeopardizes the country’s security and causes more local unemployment, although they are still small in number and controllable by the authorities. But I don’t rule out the possibility it could go out of control should the situation get worse. To prevent this, we need a control tower.”
According to the Ministry of Justice, the number of foreigners categorized as long-term sojourners, staying here for more than 90 days reached 1.44 million last year. It is forecast to swell to 2.5 million by 2020, nearly five percent of South Korea’s 4.8 million people.
In an earlier interview with The Korea Times in November, Lee called for a shift in the government’s multiethnic policy.
“Assimilation shouldn’t be the goal,” she said, adding this has been the primary basis of the governments’ multicultural policy because the majority of Koreans see individuals with a non-Korean background as a vulnerable social group. “A multicultural policy should be based on the understanding and acceptance of diverse cultures.”