Impact of Korean Chinese Immigration to the Republic of Korea under the Overseas Koreans Act

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Fifteen years ago, the Korean government finally began giving Overseas Korean, F-4 visas to Korean Chinese (Jaejungdongpo, 재중동포). Originally, the Korean legislature limited the scope of the Overseas Koreans Act to ethnic Koreans from richer and more compatible liberal democracies such as Canada and the United States. Nevertheless, the Constitutional Court issued a decision forcing the government to include ethnic Koreans from poorer communist and former totalitarian states. Since 2008, the number of Korean Chinese has skyrocketed, causing tension regarding, among other things, their lack of assimilation, their impact on the domestic labor market, and their perceived criminality. As this paper demonstrates, the arguments raised in opposition to the Constitutional Courts decision have been proven correct as (1) Korean Chinese have captured the construction industry; (2) live in various Korea Chinatowns; and (3) commit murder at twice the rate as native Koreans. This paper evaluates the public policy impact of the Constitutional Court’s attack on the Overseas Koreans Act, the subsequent legislative reforms seeking to curtail that decision, and the consequent effects of that decision on Korean society.