KWDI Korean Women’s Development Institute

This study examines the current state of local community participation of immigrants in Korea, particularly focusing on the experiences of marriage migrant women who take part in diverse level of local community activity. Cross-border marriages between Asian women and Korean men have increased rapidly since 1990s. Usually, marriage migrant women are described as disadvantaged people who need protection. However, this study focuses on the life of these women as active actors in multi-cultural local society.

We have in-depth interviews with 30 migrant women who live in various regions of Korea, and use qualitative content analysis methods to interpret their life stories.

We find typical patterns of local activity participation for these migrant women from our research. First, language program or other education program sponsored by Multicultural Family Support Center(MFSC) or NGOs usually provide opportunities to meet other migrant women and Korean staffs with whom these women make  informal and intimate relationship outside their family in the early stage after their migration.

Second, migrant women's educational experience and job career not in their home countries but in Korea, have stronger impact on their local activity participation. Many interviewees are working as counsellor, language instructor and interpreter under MFSC project or volunteer in short-term base.  Migrant women with stable and qualified job status have advantages to participate in diverse local activities.

Third, most of interviewees have regular meetings and networks with other migrant women, and some of them are trying to develop more organized immigrant group to help each other for certain purpose such as foreign language education for their children, job training, and cultural activities. There are communities with same national base(Philippines, China, Vietnam etc.), but other groups include multi-national women and successfully managing cultural differences inside their groups.

To support these local activities of migrant women, we need more extended support program and long-term policy system for the social integration of immigrant citizen. We suggest five directions to improve current policy situation : blueprint policy for immigrant citizen for long term base, local policy network building, representation system for immigrant citizen in local level, bridge program between immigrant and native residents in local region, and effective empowerment program for migrant women.

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