ABSTRACT
Those I describe in this study as ‘outsiders’ to South Korean society are ethnic Koreans from China, migrant workers from various Asian countries, and Chinese residents. They are more deeply involved than other étrangers in Korea in the process in which Koreans of today ascertain and renegotiate their conception of ethnic and national identity. The influx of ethnic Koreans from China and migrant workers was a product of the 1990s, amidst the melting down of the Cold War in East Asia and an increasing globalization of labor supply. In coming to terms with this novel experience, Koreans have also awakened to the erstwhile neglected discontent of the Chinese residents who have been with them for generations. Cries for human rights voiced in respect of the treatment of these groups have shaken Koreans’ complacency with the nation’s transition from authoritarianism to democracy. Furthermore, problems arising from the presence of the three groups have stimulated critical reflection on the opacity and incoherence of Korean law in instituting distinctions between ‘us’ and ‘them’. These problems also pose challenges to the glorification by the Koreans of the assumed homogeneity of their culture and society, and their hitherto unquestioned belief that cultural identity, ethnic boundaries, membership of society and state borders should coincide with one another.
