earticle

영어

South Korea and Japan has not been “countries of immigration.” Both countries partly accept immigrants from overseas to solve the shortage of domestic workforce or to recruit highly skilled professionals. They allow foreigners into the countries to work but they usually permit them to live and work only for a certain period of time. However, in recent years the population of immigrants has been increasing in South Korea mainly because of the international marriage between Korean men in rural areas and South-east Asian women. Our Nationalism and the myth of the homogeneous society could lead to the discrimination against different cultures. Thus, appropriate school curriculums for children in female married immigrant families are needed. It is also necessary to develop educational programs and methods based on multiculturalism to help them to understand other cultures while still keeping their original identity. In South Korea, the government is leading the multiculturalism policy while in Japan local communities are leading the policy with support from the national government. However, both countries has not yet set specific educational programs for the children from immigrant families. Therefore, in order to grow as multicultural countries, South Korea and Japan should prepare for programs and support systems which will help children from immigrant families integrate themselves with Korean (or Japanese) culture.