Government tries for foreign talent - INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily

The government is hoping to expand the foreign population even further by amending the nationality law to allow dual citizenship to bring “talented people” to Korea. But with guidelines that are vague at best, it remains to be seen whether these efforts will succeed. According to the government, the measure is geared toward attracting professionals with a proven track record in their respective fields. (Hint: Having a Nobel Prize would certainly help, for example.) But unlike the country’s permanent residency system - for which people qualify by meeting specific conditions such as employment, business ownership or marriage to a Korean citizen - it has not yet provided details on what will distinguish someone who is a “professional” from someone who is not.
Chu Kyu-ho, head of the Korea Immigration Service, hopes that the Justice Ministry will submit to the National Assembly a bill to revise the nationality law next month, after a consultative meeting between the government and ruling Grand National Party.

Recent studies have suggested that the country needs a population influx of between 1 million to 3 million people per year for the next several decades to maintain a workforce capable of supporting the economy.
“We are late in the game when it comes to attracting foreigners to the country,” said Jeon Gwang-hui, a professor of sociology at Chungnam National University. “On top of that, Korean society is very closed, which makes it harder for outsiders to get accepted.” He attributes prevailing attitudes against the foreign population to the country’s history of invasion.

“This country was invaded many times in the past and it is surrounded by large countries even today, so there is always this feeling that Koreans have to close ranks,” the professor said.

Few Achievements of the government in recent years include:

1. The Seoul Global Center was established in January 2008, to provide services such as help with housing, medical and legal issues. Other city districts and provinces have recently followed suit;
2. In May 2007, the government established a basic law regarding the treatment of foreigners;
3. May 20 is celebrated as “Together Day,” the centerpiece of which is a ceremony honoring foreigners;
4. All Korean English teachers will hold classes wholly in English by 2012, provided that a scheme announced by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education is implemented successfully. Under the government plan, more classroom time will be devoted to English education and more native-speaker teachers will be placed into the education system.

Problem to address are:

1. 20,000 children from multiracial families in the country’s educational system from elementary to high school have not integrated into the country’s education system;
2. Lee Cham, a naturalized Korean of German descent who became a Korean citizen 31 years ago, says Korean society still has a long way to go before it will accept Koreans who don’t look physically Korean.

Read this in detail (pulished in June,2009) here: Government tries for foreign talent - INSIDE Korea JoongAng Daily

HDR

 Human Development Report.\

http://bcove.me/542fswmo

Rising labour migration within Asia Pacific - Analyst Insight from Euromonitor International

Intra-regional labour migration within Asia Pacific has increased since the late 1990s, driven by globalisation and disparities in labour demand and wage opportunities in the region. Rising labour mobility will have positive impacts on employment, consumer spending and economic growth as migrant workers enhance the flow of remittances, trade and investment in the region. However, it can also be a source of social tensions.

....Japan and South Korea, however, remain strict on migration due to their emphasis on the importance of maintaining ethnic homogeneity. Foreign citizens accounted for 1.8% and 1.7% of Japan's and South Korea's population in 2009 respectively; ..

...for detail...click below:
Rising labour migration within Asia Pacific - Analyst Insight from Euromonitor International

Amendment to Immigration Control Act Proposed to Korean National Assembly

On December 30, 2008, a bill was introduced to the Korean National Assembly proposing an amendment of the Immigration Control Act. The bill seeks to establish the “legal basis to require foreigners applying for an employment visa to submit a criminal background check and health certificate” [1].
A complete translation of the reasons (제안이유) for the bill’s introduction is as follows: “Nowadays, the number of foreigners working in Korea is increasing, but a good many [Korean: 상당수] have previous convictions for drug and sexual crimes or carry infectious diseases. As we require measures to deal with the threat they pose to our society’s public order and our people’s health, we herein prepare the legal basis to require that foreigners applying for an employment visa submit a criminal background check and a health certificate.” [1]
E-2 visa holders are already required by the Korea Immigration Service to submit to drug checks, medical checks including an HIV test, and criminal background checks, however, the proposed bill states the revision would apply to “foreigners applying for an employment visa”. This is a markedly larger group of foreigners than just E-2 visa holders. Further, by becoming an Act of the National Assembly, it becomes much more difficult to challenge.
An identical bill was introduced to the National Assembly on October 24, 2007 (5 days after the arrest of Christopher Paul Neil on October 19, 2007), but consideration was delayed due to the BBK controversy, and it expired with the adjournment of the 17th session of the National Assembly.
The October 2007 bill was introduced by twelve Members of the National Assembly. The December 2008 bill was introduced by 18 Members and is said to represent a broad political consensus. It is scheduled for vote within the next two months. The bill (in Korean) is available in PDF from the Association for Teachers of English in Korea (ATEK). See below for contact information.
The Association for Teachers of English in Korea (ATEK) calls on the author(s) of this bill to provide their evidence that “a good many” (상당수) foreigners working in Korea have previous convictions for drug and sexual crimes or carry infectious diseases. Obviously, with the stringent checks being done on E-2 visa holders, they are not part of the “good many” foreigners mentioned. How many E-1, E-6, E-7, and/or C-4 visa holders have been discovered to have criminal convictions or infectious diseases? This evidence cannot be produced because it does not exist.
Names of the 18 Members introducing the December 2008 bill:
신학용 - 박기춘 – 구본철 – 송영선 - 안민석 - 김희철 – 박종희 - 김우남 - 양정례
김종률 - 강성종 - 김충환 – 심재철 - 박상돈 - 진성호 – 원혜영 - 김성곤 - 강창일
Names of the 12 Members introducing the October 2007 bill:
신학용 - 강창일 - 박상돈 - 김태년 - 김영주 - 정봉주 – 이계안 - 한광원 - 송영길 – 김교흥 - 김부겸 - 홍미영

source: http://www.atek.or.kr/

Recycling @ AKS

Recycle….of course we do it!

In our modern, green, eco-friendly, low impact society EVERYONE recycles and it’s about time to walk the walk and here I mean at the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS).

AKS is renovating and that means a lot of stuff will be trashed. We are already witnessing hundreds of (old/used) chairs, desks, bookshelves, computers, and stuff that would otherwise be sitting comfortably and being enjoyed at someone’s house. This mountain of furniture can be found at the back of the Graduate School of Korean Studies (GSKS) in Bundang.

It would be great if we REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE but at the same time RESPECT the cause (recycling) and it's importance. It is indeed a high time to allow people to come pick up this (old) furniture – that deserves recycling, for sure!

If people can make a good use of it - will indeed be a good news and a [k]novel cause. It is only about taking the initiative and thinking smart!

I hope that people (outsiders: waikukins/or who so ever interested) be allowed during the weekends to get what they want from this FM 101 (FM: furniture mountain / 가구 산).

I have to admit that A LOT of recycling projects are underway on a national, regional, local and individual level. We all have noticed how stores, restaurants and food courts all sort out their garbage such as plastic cups, lids, straws, liquids, paper and tin cans etc. At homes, we seperate food 쓰레기from the rest. Korean universities have also done a great job in this regard and one of them is Kookmin University that has a modest and fun recycling project in association with 'The Beautiful Stores' a famous NGO, that runs small stores filled with recycled things - in Seoul and greater Seoul region in particular (http://www.beautifulstore.org/Eng/). Even at AKS, we have these 'brand new' recycling bins for all the different types of 쓰레기 or trash. Needless to say, they also have a tradition of recycling for long - so hopefully, this stuff be recycled too.

One of the biggest government recycling centers that collects recyclable stuff are luckily located in Seongnam but they will come and pick it only on the condition that furniture should NOT be more than 2 years old, voila!

I'd highly appreciate if we ask our friends or NGOs etc. to come and do some sorting!

Website on recycling in Korea

http://www.woodrecycling.or.kr/

http://www.recycle.or.kr/
http://www.beautifulstore.org/Eng/

http://www.recycle.re.kr/ (this site needs recycling)

NOTE: It is important to note that people who do not belong to AKS (faculty, staff, students) can visit it on weekends only.

TOPIK

People lined up in thousands in Khatmandu, the capital city of Nepal, to take TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean), to get jobs in Korea. All over Nepal, about 37 thousand people appeared for TOPIK, in August 2010 only.The report says that there were 27,618 applicants registered in Sri Lanka for next month’s test, while 29,583 people have applied to take the test in Vietnam. There were 2,426 applicants in Indonesia for this month’s test, which was a higher number than expected given that the test was administered during Ramadan.

In Pakistan, 98 percent of registered applicants took the test in December 2007, even though it was held the day Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. In Phnom Penh, Cambodia, about 30,000 people participated in an orientation session for the TOPIK in March 2010.

“I think the international status of Korean, which was selected as the ninth most influential language in the world by the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2007, has grown,” said Jeong Eun-hee, an official for the Human Resource Development Services of Korea.

Read the original story here .

In the wake of having have huge numbers appearing for exam the government has taken decision to make the tests "more" difficult. For more details read here.

This may happen to foreign students as well IF the numbers increase, by the way, the numbers have already increased dramatically since 2002 from 7000 to 70,000 in 2009. According to a report, Korea has doubled the number of scholarships to hit a target 100,000 foreign students by the year 2013. Korea has the lowest number of international students among the OECD countries. According to another report, a separate job portal and immigration related website especially targeting the international students will be operational soon.For more  Read here. By the way, foreign students make up only 1% of the student body in Korean universities. Moreover, about 220,000 or more Korean students leave for foreign countries every year, out of which 30% opt for the US and only 35-40% return to Korea.

Back to migrants, in an another article of the The Himalayan (Nepali Newspaper), it says that:

".......Nepal government will send only 9.49 per cent of all the applicants to South Korea for work. In effect, 90 per cent of those who completed the formalities for recently-concluded Korean Language Test (KLT) will see their investments and endeavours bearing no fruit and going to drain..."

                                                                 Japanese Restaurant

Asia Human Rights Report

http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2003/621/

East Asia Forum

Professor Moon Kyoung-hee's article

Minod Moktan's (aka Minu) Deportation to Nepal

the right residency papers. In six months, 17,000 migrants lost their job and were deported.

Seoul (AsiaNews) – “Free Minu! Stop Crackdown!” shouted members of a coalition of 23 groups, including the Migrant Workers Trade Union in front of the Hwaseong Immigration Detention Centre in Gyeonggi Province last Friday. They were demanding the release of Minod Moktan (AKA Minu), a 33-year-old Nepali musician and cultural activist who, like other migrant workers, is undocumented and has been the target for a government expulsion order.
Some labour analysts and human rights observers are saying that the government must re-evaluate its positions on issues facing undocumented migrant workers, as they have integrated into Korean society.
In Minu’s case, he immigrated to South Korea in 1992 and went to work in restaurants and garment factories in the Uijeongbu area.
During this time, he campaigned actively on social issues, produced a documentary on migrant worker human rights and served as head of the executive committee for the Migrant Worker Film Festival. He has also been the recipient of a number of awards, but now he could be deported.
Prior to this recent target crackdown, the Korea Immigration Service had arrested and deported undocumented migrant workers , in 2007 and 2008, who had served as leaders of the Migrants Trade Union, a union founded for and by migrants.
Minu, who is engaged in human rights activism, became a target after a recent election of documented migrant workers to positions of leadership.
Target crackdowns are the consequence of President Lee Myung-bak’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy.
Last March he said, “illegal residents should not be allowed to just strut around”, a view widely condemned by human rights and labour organisations around the world.
Critics also note that the situation of migrant workers in South Korea has induced the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders to speak out on the issue.
The number of migrant workers deported has gone from around 20,000 a year during the Roh Moo-hyun administration to 32,000 last year under the Lee administration.
As of late July 2009, some 17,000 have lost their jobs and have been deported.
In addition, reports of serious human rights violations during the Justice Ministry’s crackdowns are surfacing; they include a steady number of cases of undocumented migrant workers suffering from injuries, dying, and committing suicide whilst in custody.

credits@Theresa Kim Hwa-young of Asia News dot it.