경계(境界)의 이주정책 = 고용허가제의 쟁점과 과제

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The development of globalization, which has caused the global movement of capital and labour, has increased the number of guest workers consistently. Whereas in a nation-state that labour rights of citizens are legally protected, the rights of guest workers, specifically unskilled workers, are very poorly protected. On the understanding that emergence and growth of guest workers depend on a political framework of nation-states, this article aims to critically examine the current situations and issues of Employment Permit System, which is the contemporary policy for guest workers in Korea. Employment Permit System has been adopted due to problems and harmful effects of Industrial Technical Training Program and received good reviews for better improvement of the previous policy for guest workers. However, Employment Permit System has produced many problems of human rights abuse, forced labour, and unregistered stay. As Employment Permit System, which has been implemented for more than 11 years, has showed limitations, it is required for re-examination and alteration for the more advanced system of guest workers. We suggest ‘Phased Work Permit System’ as an alternative for reform of Employment Permit System and as a model of institutional change for migrant labour policy in Korea. Unlike Employment Permit System, in which the employment of guest workers belongs to business employers’ exclusive decisions, ‘Phased Work Permit System’ gives guest workers the labour rights to find a job. We argue that through the new system, guest workers’ human rights and social rights would be secured and be socially integrated. By doing so, Korea’s policy for guest workers is expected to be a step towards social integration for all in political community, not a means to make use of guest workers instrumentally and to alienate them from the community. It would be a future oriented way for survival in the twenty-first century, in which the nation-states system has been challenged.