| This dissertation begins with an empirical observation that the immigration and foreign worker policies of the Republic of Korea (ROK) have been rapidly expanding in recent years. In spite of its ethnically homogeneous characteristics and the financial crisis of the late 1990s, the ROK has experienced a multicultural explosion and an upsurge of foreign workers. This dissertation aims to solve this empirical puzzle by taking a close look at how the changes in identities and interests of institutions influence the evolution of foreign worker and immigration policies in the ROK from the late 1990s on. This dissertation finds that the main factors behind this phenomenon can be located at three different levels of analysis: (1) the influence of international pressures and transnational/international norms and values, such as democracy, human rights, globalization (internationalization), and multiculturalism, on the development of Korean foreign worker policies at the transnational level, (2) the relationship between immigration policy and foreign policy at the international level, and (3) the politics and policymaking processes of foreign worker policies among various actors, including the Korean governing institutions, employers' organizations, professional experts (elites), and civic groups and activists at the domestic level. An examination of dynamics among these actors reveals various factors influencing Korean immigration and foreign worker policies at the transnational, international, and domestic levels. Based on these, the dissertation moves its focus toward and delves into current issues of immigration and foreign worker policies, such as the question of the securitization of immigration and the rise of anti-multiculturalism in Korean society. |
