e-Journal Homo Migrans Vol.3 (Nov. 2010): 39-60 논문 Racial Formation in South Korea : Some Thoughts on Future Research Wol-san Liem (People’s Solidarity for Social Progress Kyujanggak International Center for Korean Studies, Seoul University) I. Introduction In the spring of 2006, I arrived in South Korea with some vague ideas about learning Korean, learning about Korean social move- ments, and conducting dissertation research. That was when I first meet members of the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants Trade Union (MTU). A trade union formed specifically for migrant work- ers of all nationalities in South Korea, MTU had been founded by undocumented migrant workers the pervious April in the wake of a year-long sit-in [nongseong] protest opposing the implementa- tion of the Employment Permit System (EPS)1) and the concur- rent crackdown being carried out against those without valid visas. 1) The Employment Permit System, introduced in August 2004, is cur- rently the primary system regulating documented migrant labor in South Korea. It has been criticized by MTU and other migrant rights organizations for several reasons including restrictions placed on the right to change employers, the short period of residence allowed to migrant workers, and prohibitions against bringing family members to South Korea. For ILO concerns over the EPS see “Report of the Com- mittee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommen- dations,” (presented at the 97th Session of the International Labour Conference, Geneva, Switzerland, 2008), pp.385-387; “Report of the Committee on the Application of Standards,” (presented at the 98th Session of the International Labour Conference, Geneva, Switzerland, 2009), pp.106-107, pp.115. http://www.homomigrans.com 39 이민인종연구회 Homo Migrans Vol. 3(Nov. 2010) When I first found my way to the MTU office the president, Anwar Hossain, was locked in Cheongju Foreigners Detention Center, the victim of a late night ambush by immigration officers, and the union was struggling against government repression for its very survival. To me, coming from a country with a deep history of racism and anti-racist struggles, and particularly from a people-of-color movement community in New York City where critique of structural racism is a central basis for political action, the policies of violent arrest and deportation of undocumented migrants and repression against migrant worker organizing appeared just that—structural racism. Thus, it was somewhat surprising to me that neither these measures nor the rest of the restrictive and exploitative conditions under which migrants are placed were understood or discussed as such. This lack of a racial analysis characterizes the wider migrant rights movement, as well as MTU.2) Among the migrant support centers, which have generally been the dominant voice in the migrant rights movement, the general dis- course is, at its worst, one that depicts migrants as unfortunate victims who need sympathy and help, an image often perpetuated in the mainstream media. At best, it is a discourse of human rights, which uses standards enshrined in UN conventions as a basis for measuring state policy and the treatment of migrant workers in South Korean society. MTU has worked hard to add a concept of labor rights to this discussion, stressing through words (politi- cal discourse) and action (union organizing and direct action) that migrants working in Korea are philosophically and legally work- ers—the subjects of the same rights to fair wages, decent working 2) I use ‘migrant rights movement’ to refer generally to the migrant sup- port centers, NGOs, unions and social justice organizations that have made efforts during the past decade to improve the conditions under which migrants live and work in South Korea through a variety of ac- tivities that include service provision, organizing, legal and policy work, and direct action. 40 Racial Formation in South Korea conditions, freedom of association and collective action as their native-born colleagues. Within MTU, individual union members speak frequently of the ‘racist’ treatment they receive by employers and Korean co-work- ers. The last two MTU presidents also began inserting references to government policy as ‘racist’ in public addresses. These choices of words are not a coincidence. They speak to the deeply painful experience of being treated as almost innately inferior at every level of society from the everyday to the representational to the political/legal. And yet, there has not been serious discussion with- in MTU or among labor and migrant rights forces of ‘racism’ as a structure of oppression and, therefore, the target of political action. This began to change last summer after an incident that led to South Korea’s first conviction of an individual for racist harassment.3) On 10 July 2009, Banajit Hussain, an Indian Professor serving as a researcher at Sungkonghoe University and a female Korean com- panion where verbally harassed by a Korean man while riding a bus headed for Bucheon. The man, who was under the influence of al- cohol, repeatedly called Hussain ‘dirty’ and ‘smelly’, and also made derogatory remarks towards his friend for ‘being with an Arab’.4) When Hussain and his friend took the perpetrator to a nearby police station, they were advised to forgive him and not press charges. Police officers who met with them spoke in jondaetmal to the two Koreans, but in banmal to Hussain. 3) Because South Korea has no discrimination or hate crimes law, the individual in question was convicted for defamation. See Jeong Mira, “Oegugin injongchabyeor bareon e cheos ‘moyokjae’ injeong [First Recognition of Racially Discriminatory Remark against Foreigner as ‘Defamation’],” News Way, 27 November 2009, http://www.newsway. kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=71121. 4) For full account of the incident see, Ahn Su-chan, “Naemsaenaneun hangug ui injong chabyeol [South Korea’s Foul Smelling Racial Dis- crimination],” Hangyeore 21 Vol. 773 (August 2009), http://h21.hani.co.kr/arti/soci- ety/society_general/25561.html. http://www.homomigrans.com 41 이민인종연구회 Homo Migrans Vol. 3(Nov. 2010) Contrary to the police officers’ advice, Hussain and his companion filed charges against the man, who was eventually convicted of contempt and fined 1 million won.5) The two also filed a complaint to the National Human Rights Commission. On July 14, 2010, the Commission released a statement recognizing that the officers in- volved in the case had acted based on “racial and cultural bias” and recommending that the police take “precautionary measures and conduct human rights training” to prevent future similar incidents from occurring.6) Soon after the incident on the bus occurred, migrant and human rights-related organizations, including Asiajiyeok daeangyoryuhoe [ARENA], of which both Hussain and his companion happened to be members, MTU, and several migrant support centers formed a “Joint Action Committee against Racial/Gender Discrimination” [Seong • injongchabyeor daechaeg wiwonhoe] to support Hussain’s case and to begin a wider discussion about racial and gender dis- crimination in South Korea.7) The committee was later renamed “Collective Action against Racial and Gender Discrimination” [Seong • injongchabyeor gongdong haengdong]. The formation of the committee represents recognition that Hussain’s experience was not an isolated one, but rather part of a much deeper social problem. Moreover, it indicates a willingness on the part of the mi- grants rights movement to approach racism as a serious analytical, 5) Jeong Mira, “Oegugin injongchabyeor bareon.” 6) Kang Gyeongseok, “Injeongchabyeor josa gyeongchar i injongcabyeor eonhaeng [Racial Discrimination Investigation: Police adopted Racial- ly Discriminatory Demeanor],” Donga Ilbo, 15 July 2010, http://news. donga.com/3/all/20100715/29896020/1. 7) Yonhap News, “Seong• injongchabyeor daechaeg wiwonhoe baljok,” Yonhap News, 27 July 2009, “http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?m ode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=102&oid=001&aid=0002784316. The com- mittee was prompted included confronting ‘gender discrimination’ in its goals because of the gendered nature of the slurs directed towards Hussain’s female companion. This part of the committee’s work falls outside the parameters of this paper. 42 Racial Formation in South Korea social, and political problem. Thus, it was an important step. Yet, it is my assessment that civil society and social movement forces in South Korea, and the society at large, have yet to develop an adequate understanding of what racism is and how it works. Within MTU we noted that thousands of migrant workers were suf- fering the same type of verbal abuse, and much worse, at their places of work, while using public transportation, and while oth- erwise going about their daily lives, and yet these incidents had neither been prosecuted nor sparked an organized response within the movement. It seemed ironic that it had taken an act of racial- ized harassment against someone who, because of class and status privilege and social connections, was in a relatively better position to advocate for himself, to draw attention from activists. More- over, the committee began its work with an understanding of rac- ism that framed it in terms of individual prejudice and acts of dis- crimination.8) As MTU’s current president noted in one conference held by the committee, discriminatory treatment is worked into the very legal system that governs migrant workers’ existence in South Korea.9) These observations point to the need for a critique of rac- ism that goes beyond seeing it as a matter of individual prejudice to instead articulate the relationship between racial consciousness/ racist ideology, state policy, and the distribution of resources as 8) A statement released at the Committee’s opening press conference, for instance, refers to racism (injongjuui) as “one of the most anti-human rights and phobic of discriminatory ideologies” and generally speaks to the problem of individual racially discriminatory “acts and attacks,” similar to that experienced by Hussain.