Korea takes a step towards reverse discrimination and a proactive immigration policy

In a misguided attempt to help multiethnic families and their children and to bolster falling birthrates, the Korean government took another small but important step towards reverse ethnic discrimination both as a means to aid multiethnic children as well as encourage more multiethnic unions.

According to reports, all "multicultural" children regardless of income will enjoy free daycare services from the government starting next year, the government announced Thursday. About 28,000 multicultural children are expected to benefit. Children between birth and age five will be eligible and under the program, parents will receive a state subsidy to enroll their multicultural child in daycare centers. Currently, only parents who earn less than 2.58 million won are eligible.

Korea Times welcomes reverse discrimination

While we personally find any form of legalized racial discrimination appalling, the Korea Times newspaper appeared to cheer the decision in an editorial that in some sense was more disturbing than the government's decision itself.

"This is a welcome proactive move by the nation toward embracing multi-ethnicity," it said. "This is a desirable step to inject vitality into the nation through a proactive immigration policy."

However, the paper warned that there could be a backlash from native Koreans. Obviously, government policies that favor one ethnic group over another, especially foreign, is likely to engender resentment. (As it should)

"The multicultural families enjoy a right not granted to Korean families with children of the same-age," the newspaper conceded.

"Korean parents are eligible for the program only when a family of four has a monthly income of less than 4.5 million won. The threshold rises to six million won for a double-income family. About 70 percent of Korean families with children have access to the program. All multicultural families will be beneficiaries. Although there are rich multicultural families here that will benefit as well", the paper explained.

What's more, the Korean government plans to hire 100 instructors to help immigrants learn the Korean language. Citing President Lee Myung-bak, the paper said that "the government should take care of multicultural kids in providing daycare services and language training... the programs are necessary as their foreign mothers are not fluent in Korean."

But why any child born in Korea should have trouble with the Korean language puzzles us. To be sure, regardless of whether one or more parents speak the native language, children pick up language like a sponge soaks up water.

Short of learning disabilities or mental handicaps, we think there has probably never been a child born into a society and experienced difficulty learning its native language.

Equal but different

Ironically, the newspaper noted that while children born to parents of mixed ethnicity are Korean, they should not be limited to just free daycare services but apparently receive even more benefits, including guaranteed "good education" and equal treatment from peers at school. The paper recommended that "Korean children should receive orientation not to alienate their multicultural peers in class."

To be sure, these are nice ideas, but we wonder how can it be possible for people and by extension their children not feel "different" towards multicultural children (and how can they help themselves from feeling different) when society officially identifies them as something less than the same?

Arguably, what is the "same" or "different" is ultimately a matter of perception. And when government officially recognizes the perception that a child born from the union of Vietnamese and Korean parents, for instance, are "different", then the fact that they are dissimilar is surely to become socially institutionalized.

Proactive immigration

Furthermore, the paper editorialized that the country had no choice but to pursue a "proactive immigration policy" as a result of Korea's falling birthrate.

"Without input from immigrants, Korea will have difficulty in maintaining vitality in society and contributing to the economy," it said.

And in this vein, it noted that the government may have to accept as much as 2 million immigrants or four percent of Korea's population in order to stave off population decline.

But in our opinion, population replacement is a sadly misguided and equally shortsighted idea.

source:Korea Times