The reasons of immigration to South Korea and South Korean's perceptions about Asian immigrants

Since 1990, a great number of immigrants have migrated to South Korea, specially to marry or work. The development of the Korean educational system has resulted in Korean women migrating from rural to urban areas, and in an increase of the number of educated people countrywide. For these reasons, low-paid migrant workers are employed instead of Koreans who don't take blue-collar jobs, immigrant brides have begun taking the place of the Korean women who have migrated to urban areas. This way, South Korea is taking the first step towards becoming a multicultural society. Multiculturalism "damunhwa (다문화)" has taken place in academic discussions, printed and visual media and new policies of the government. The policies for migrants -who 3% of the 51 million population- have been rapidly put into practice, thus over 200 culture centers to support multicultural families and 42 migration offices and branches were opened. Yet, governmental actions are not found adequate by Korean citizens and because of the Koreans' threat perception for Asian immigrants, discrimination, attitudes and behaviours have also emerged. In this context, the research scope of this thesis was limited to Asian countries -China, Japan, North Korea, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philipines, Taiwan, Thailand-, which are examined to set reasons for migration from Asian countries to Korea from 1990 to present day; South Korean people's perceptions about immigrants, attitudes and behaviours are also researched, by blending first and second hand data.