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Korea is rapidly becoming a multicultural and multiethnic society now the number of foreigners living in the country exceeded 1 million as of Aug. 24 or 2 percent of the registered population (49.13 million). A survey on international marriages by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family released Wednesday suggests that the growing number of foreign residents has changed the attitude of South Koreans, who in the past took pride in their ethnic homogeneity.
The latest attitude survey was conducted of 1,000 male and female adults over 19 from across the country. Some 72.6 percent of the respondents said there was no reason to stick to ethnic homogeneity. So did 64.8 percent of those in their 50s or older. Only 26.7 percent of the respondents said, ethnic homogeneity was ¡°a proud legacy that we should hand down to our descendants." The confidence level was 95 percent with a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.
Respondents also took quite a different attitude toward international marriages. Those willing to allow their children to marry foreigners if they want (62.4 percent) overwhelmed those who are unwilling (36.2 percent). As many as 93.2 percent of the respondents said they would not mind children of mixed couples making friends with their children. Those in the age group between 19 and 29, women, those with experience overseas and college students showed the most positive response to international marriages, and the younger generation on the whole is more interested in making foreign friends.
Shin Hye-won (22), a college student, said, "I'm envious of friends who have foreign friends, because they look smart and sophisticated when they mix with foreigners. I saw many Korean students in relationships with foreigners, when I was abroad as an exchange student." Hwang Sun-mi (28), who works for an advertising agency, said she goes to barbecue parties in Itaewon once a month to make foreign friends. ¡°We just talk in English and build a human network,¡± she said. ¡°I can learn a new culture from them."
Koreans have also become more tolerant of international marriages, with some 79.4 percent of respondents "friendly" toward such families. That was a surge from 48.7 percent in a similar survey conducted by the Policy Coordination Office only last November.
Won Young-sung (31), a businessman who married a Japanese woman five years ago, said, "Until recently, many people asked me if we were members of a certain religious group or if we had a special reason for our international marriage. But I hear that Koreans with Japanese spouses who've married recently are almost never asked such questions." However, there still exists invisible discrimination against people based on the color of their skin and children of diverse cultrual background.
Prof. Hahm In-hee of Ewha Womans University said, "It seems people's attitude is rapidly changing due to the younger generation's curiosity about, and their tolerance of, different cultures and the rapid increase of foreign residents in the country." But Prof. Kim Ho-ki of Yonsei University said it remains to be seen whether respondents' favorable response to international marriages is borne out by their actions, given that many questions in the survey's questionnaire began with ¡°Do you think it¡¯s desirable...?" In other words, some respondent may only be paying lip service to the idea of multiculturalism.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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