한일의 다문화정책과 그 관련 법률에 관한 고찰

The purpose of this article is to study the promoting backgrounds of Koreanand Japanese multicutural policies in addition to the drawbacks in relatedlegislations, and to propose an alternative plan. Korea carried forward multiculturalpolicies to solve problems caused by the growth in numbers of marriage immigrants,and Japan’s multicultural policies were put in place to facilitate the society’scoexistence with its immigrants. Korean policies were pushed ahead by the centralgovernment, while Japanese policies were pushed ahead by the local governments. The principal objectives of the Act on the Treatment of Foreigners in Koreaand the Multicultural Families Support Act are the adaptation of immigrants and social integration. On the other hand, Japan “controls and administrates”foreigners through the Immigration Control Law and Refugee Recognition Act,shown to cause substantial violation of the human rights of immigrants. In thisrespect, Korean legislations on multicultural policies have many implications forJapan’s policies on multicultural coexistence since alternatives for social unificationas coexistence and symbiosis should be policies that value the human rightsof foreigners, not policies that control foreigners. Multicultural policies of Korea and Japan approach the model of assimilation. However, social unification must acknowledge both cultural parties, not assimilateone to another. Dichotomy of natives and foreigners only reveals the differencesand prevents social unification. Therefore it is necessary to overcome the dichotomyand build a community that accepts diversity and embraces immigrants as individualswith a broad variety of cultural and social backgrounds.