Multicultural Society:

Important Social Task Gwangju

By Kim Yenari, Guest Reporter

  As we further step into the era of ‘Cultural Nomads,’ there is no meaning to distinguish the boundary line of each culture and nation. To meet the demands of the times, Korean society also needs to learn how to live harmoniously with those who have different languages and cultures. Yet, it is an unfamiliar concept to Koreans to accept new cultures as Korea is illustrious for its strong ethnicity and patriotism usually demonstrated at international sporting events like the FIFA World Cup. Nevertheless, there must be a multicultural area that exists in some part of Korea. For the last ten years or so, multicultural families have arisen from international marriages and these numbers have been rapidly increasing. It naturally has brought about social problems related to immigrant women and requires society to change its attitude toward them. As May is the Month of Family in Korea, Chonnam Tribune looked into the life of multicultural families and how our community is supporting them.


Efforts to Support Multicultural Family

   There was a forum sponsored by the Center for Multicultural Society of CNU on April 14. In the forum, Kim Kyeong-shin, a Ph.D. in the Dept. of Family Environment & Welfare and a joint researcher of the center, presented the results of a survey on multicultural families in Gwangju. It was expected to play a role in paying more attention to the actual condition of multicultural families in the community. In the interview, she said, “Since their children grow old, we cannot treat them as total strangers anymore. I hope they could be a ‘family’ which shares a duty of life. In that sense, there has to be ‘special support’ to perform the ‘ordinary rights’ for them.”

Meanwhile, the survey showed many immigrant women are not totally satisfied with welfare services provided by the city while they show a higher satisfaction rate with their family. Concerning social costs, the government pays for their welfare services, why did those responses come out?

  Chonnam Tribune interviewed Jung Su-jin, an officer in charge of a multicultural family in Gwangju. “It is true some supporting programs overlap each other, but in the case of Korean classes, it is more effective when they study Korean repeatedly, so that they can quickly adjust to Korean life. It may be perfect, of course, to unify all programs from different organizations. The reason why that result comes out is that immigrant women who participate in supporting programs only keep participating, not all of them in Gwangju. What we have to do is to bring the remaining people out, those who haven’t been given the support yet,” he said.

   There are about 2,800 multicultural families in Gwangju on the basis of the survey conducted by the government in 2008, and 35.1% of them live in Buk-gu District, which exceed one third of the total. According to Jung Su-jin, there are two Multicultural Family Support Centers (MFSC), one in Gwangsan-gu and another in Buk-gu. They provide various support programs for immigrant women, such as Korean classes, childcare education, mentoring, cultural experience, and so on. They even have a ‘Personal Visit Service’ for those who live far away from the centers. This reporter visited the MFSC in Buk-gu and interviewed Han Shin-ae, the head of the center. “In the center, there are more than a hundred immigrant women who use these programs everyday.

To make a multicultural society successfully settled, three aspects, 1) policies of the government, 2) responsibility of those who work for multicultural families, and 3) Koreans’ attitude toward immigrant women, have to be in harmony. It is important to make the best from immigrant women, and then apply it in an efficient way for out society. By doing so, I believe they can be the ones who change Korea. This requires not only individual efforts, but efforts from the whole community.”

   While interviewing many people, I happened to know Jung Soon-young who is a member of the Buk-gu District Assembly. She is trying to enact an ordinance to support multicultural families. She said, “I hope this ordinance will be grounds for helping immigrant women. There was a public hearing on May 11 with citizens including immigrant women and experts in those issues.” I believe her effort will awaken people to think about foreign minorities around us, who often face legal and social discrimination.



The Future of Multicultural Society in Gwangju

  Forty years from now, one out of ten people in Korea will be a member of multicultural families. It means our future would depend on how much we positively accept them. Several countries, such as Canada, France, and England have achieved social development by becoming multiculturalist societies in an early age. After interviewing people who work for minorities in various fields, I found out they emphasize more on the future of Korea than at the present time. There are already 1,608 children of multicultural families in Gwangju, and 1,121 of them are preschool children.

   In the near future, we could see their children getting into university or gaining employment. If we keep counting on blood ties ourselves, we would lose great competitive power of the nation. Therefore, the government should support them in practical ways rather than just indiscriminate outflow. Immigrant women themselves should have responsibilities and fulfill the duties as members of society. The most important thing for us is to have a mind of great capacity so as to build a ‘Multicultural Society’ together, where all people can enjoy living.

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<Interview with Marian>

Chonnam Tribune interviewed with an immigrant woman, Marian from the Philippines. She has been in Korea for ten years.

Q: As you have lived here for about ten years, I heard you have actively participated in Korean society.
A: Yes, I have been currently working as an interpreter for Filipina immigrants since I have mastered Korean during my ten years here. I also taught students English in an after school class.

Q: When you first came to Korea, what were some difficulties you had to live here?
A: The most difficult thing was, of course, communication with my family and others. Moreover, there were almost no programs to learn Korean as the country did not have a concept of a multicultural society. Every time there were Korean classes in a church or Catholic Center, my friends and I shared information about them. Because of the lack of services in Gwangju, I individually made a large effort to master Korean.

Q: Haven’t you experienced any conflict with your family about your social activities?
A: Even though Korean society values a patriarchal system which focuses on male-dominant idea, I did not experience any special conflicts with my family. My family supports my work and is happy for that. I think Korean society has changed quite a lot compared to ten years ago.

Q: How did supporting services from the government change during these ten years?
A: As I said before, it was really hard for immigrant women to find information about welfare services at that time. At present, I think it has been improved a lot thanks to support from many civic groups, Gwangju Metropolitan City, and MFSCs. I am personally satisfied with many programs I can be provided now.