Homogeneous South Korea deals with growing multiculturalism

Deutsche Welle, 5 Apr 2012

The South Korean government has introduced a new school for the children of bi-racial parents. The country's growing multicultural population continues to struggle with stereotypes and discrimination.

Dr. Hong In-pyo doesn't speak the language of most of his patients. Instead he hires foreign students at local universities to help translate. Hong heads the Seoul Multicultural Family Clinic, the first publically funded hospital for families with only one Korean spouse. His clients are mostly women from China or Southeast Asia who have married Korean men, one of the fastest growing demographics in this nation of 49 million. And their offspring are on the rise too, says Hong. "They are the next generation of the nation."

Hong is not exaggerating. According to government statistics the birthrate of children born into families with only one Korean parent is outpacing that of children in traditional families, who have lower birthrates.

"By 2050 these multicultural children will make up 10 percent of the population," Hong adds.

Korea's changing face

Enkhjagal Khishigbaatar's family represents the changing face of modern South Korea. The 32-year-old is originally from Mongolia and now lives in Seoul with her South Korean husband and their two young sons, ages 3 and 5.

Khishigbaatar says adjusting to life in Korea wasn't as difficult as she expected, thanks to efforts by the South Korean government to help settle multicultural families.

"There are many multicultural family training and support centers. I received a lot of help there. I have even helped other women married to Koreans find jobs here and fit in. It's been great here," she says.

These centers were created to assist the hundreds of thousands of young newlywed women from mostly developing Asian countries who now call South Korea home. These international marriages, often arranged by a broker, are the result of a male-heavy gender gap in the countryside that has left many Korean men unable to find wives.

Victims of racism

But many non-Korean women and their children face setbacks in society. Racial diversity is not something South Koreans are familiar with. Ethnic homogeneity is a source of pride for many and only until recently did school textbooks proclaim the Korean people's "pure blood" as a virtue.

Foreign women and their half-Korean offspring are often the victims of racism. The multicultural kids are especially discriminated against by their full-Korean peers, according to Kim Hee-kyung of Save the Children's Seoul division. She says Korean children learn stereotypes and prejudice from their parents and through the media and feel unabashed to tease or bully their peers who they see as different. Kim says multicultural kids with a mother from Southeast Asia get made fun of the most.

"They (Korean students) see themselves as superior to children with Southeast Asian heritage. They say they are dumb or poor, because Southeast Asian countries are less developed than Korea and that's why they assume they are inferior to them."

Kim says that this bullying has resulted in multicultural children being taken out of school altogether. Research cited by Save the Children reveals that up to 30 percent of all biracial kids in South Korea stay home with their foreign mothers and thus aren't receiving education or learning to speak Korean proficiently.

This has the South Korean government worried, says Chung Chin-sung, a lecturer in sociology at Seoul National University.

"These children experience isolation and their academic records are very low," she says. "Without any help, they will not be able to fit into Korean society."

Improving integration

Last year, Chung served on a presidential committee that recommended the creation of an alternative school for multicultural children so that these kids don't fall through the cracks as they grow up.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government took the committee's advice to heart and last month opened the Dasom High School for Multicultural Children, enrolling 48-students who have either one Korean parent or stepparent.

At Dasom these students, who have all grown up overseas, learn the Korean language and can train for careers in either the tourism or multimedia fields. For almost all of these high schoolers, it's the first school they've attended since moving to South Korea. 

The government has started introducing
integration programs

"I like the school a lot and I'm happy that I've made friends with students from Japan, Hong Kong and Vietnam," says 18-year-old Liang Man Ni, who came to Seoul three years ago with her Korean mother and Chinese father.

But the real test for Dasom will be when the generation of multicultural children born in Korea over the past decade reaches their teens, says Seoul National University's Chung. She says she hopes those kids don't need to attend the school at all.

"In principle, those children from different backgrounds should be integrated with other students, but there are children who cannot well adjust to normal school," Chung says. "I think this school can be a last chance for those children."

Enkhjagal Khishigbaatar, the Mongolian woman with two young sons, says her friends have warned her about the prejudice that some multicultural children face as they get older.

But she says her boys so far haven't experienced any problems and she's not worried about discrimination here.

"I'm more concerned that since my sons are growing up here and going to school with Koreans, they will have a culture shock if they visit Mongolia and be treated as foreigners there," Khishigbaatar says.

She says she hopes her sons will grow up to feel just as Mongolian as they do Korean.

Author: Jason Strother

Editor: Sarah Berning

RI, Myanmar discuss democracy, refugees

Erwida Maulia, THE JAKARTA POST, JAKARTA | Tue, 03/17/2009 10:23 AM  

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met with visiting Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein here Monday to discuss the contentious issues of the Rohingya boatpeople and democracy in the junta-ruled country. 

Yudhoyono emphasized the need for a “practical solution” to resolve the Rohingya problem, and urged Myanmar to prove to the world that its “road map to democracy” could work by holding “fair” and “inclusive” general elections planned for next year. 

“Prime Minister Thein Sein said the Myanmar government is paying close attention to the [Rohingya] issue. Basically it says it will accept back the Rohingya people as long as they can prove they are indeed from Myanmar,” Indonesian presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal told the press after the meeting of the two leaders at the State Palace in Jakarta. 

He added some of the refugees may have come from Bangladesh. 

Dino said both leaders had basically agreed the Rohingya issue needed to be resolved through the Bali Process, a regional mechanism aimed at combating people smuggling, trafficking and related transnational crimes, which was agreed upon by ASEAN leaders during the recent ASEAN Summit. 

Myanmar, however, wanted the Bali Process not to focus on the Rohingya refugee issue. 

Dino added Indonesia would extend the interim phase of humanitarian assistance for 400 Rohingya boatpeople stranded in Aceh province until a final solution to the problem was found.

The refugees, believed to have come from Myanmar, were heading to Thailand before being stranded in Indonesia’s westernmost province. 

“The Indonesian government will establish bilateral cooperation with the Myanmar government, and will involve the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration to solve the problem,” Dino said. 

The two leaders also discussed the touchy issue of democracy in Myanmar. After listening to Thein Sein’s explanation of Myanmar’s preparations for next year’s elections, Yudhoyono reminded Myanmar that this would be the time for it to prove to the world it would complete its seven-step road map to democracy. 

“The President emphasized the importance of a credible, transparent, fair and inclusive election process. He also said Myanmar should not just conduct elections, but most importantly quality elections,” Dino said. 

He added Yudhoyono did not directly discuss the issue of Myanmar’s political detainees with Thein Sein. 

The President’s emphasis on “inclusive” elections, however, was intended to politely persuade the junta to release the detainees. 

The two leaders also discussed a range of other issues, including regional and international matters. 

They agreed to strengthen bilateral relations and to boost cooperation in several fields, including the military, the economy and tourism. 

In the military field, Dino said, Indonesia and Myanmar had conducted military student exchanges and planned to conduct a joint defense seminar. 

In the economic sector, Indonesia wants to further boost bilateral trade, which has grown at a tremendous pace in recent years. 

The bilateral trade value between the two countries increased by about 89 percent from 2006 to 2007, and now amounts to about US$300 million. 

“That’s still very far from the real potential,” Dino said. 

During his two-day visit to Jakarta, Thein Sein is scheduled to meet with Vice President Jusuf Kalla and visit the Kalibata Heroes’ Cemetery in South Jakarta on Tuesday. 

It is Thein Sein’s first visit to Indonesia since he assumed his present post in October 2007. 

This would be the time for Myanmar to prove to the world it would complete its seven-step road map to democracy.

19th Asia Business Conference at Ross a Tremendous Success

themsj.com, By: Giselle Dineros, 3/16/09 

The Asia Business Conference at the Ross School of Business remains the longest-running student-organized conference about Asia in the United States. For the last 18 years, the conference has brought together leaders of Asia and multinational companies together in Ann Arbor to discuss, debate, and dialogue about shifting trends in the region. The Asia Business Conference strives to provide a forum for highly concentrated and honest exchange with business executives and political leaders from throughout Asia and the United States. This year, twenty-three renowned industry experts converged in Ann Arbor to interact with students and discuss the current trends in their industries and geographic regions - especially as it pertained to current economic, financial, social and political trends. 

This year, the 19th Annual Asia Business Conference (ABC) was held at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business on February 6 and 7, 2009. The conference theme, "Asia: Globalization and Transformation" was intended to call attention to the financial, social and political impact of an increasingly interdependent global economy on Asia, as well as the region's increasingly significant role in the international arena. As the home of the world's fastest growing economies, Asia's financial and economic condition will continue to play an important role in global stability and security. 

The conference kicked off on Friday evening with a keynote address delivered by Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN.)* In his role as ASEAN Secretary-General, Dr. Pitsuwan is responsible for ten nations in Southeast Asia and roughly one-tenth of the world's population. In his keynote address, he discussed how the credit turmoil in the United States has intensified into a global financial crisis which has resulted in protracted slowdown and severe financial deleveraging around the world. Dr. Pitsuwan also discussed the lessons from the financial crisis that originated in his native, Thailand, which crippled Asian economies and caused tremendous suffering over a decade ago. During the course of his speech, the Secretary-General praised the University of Michigan as a "birthplace of international engagement." He reminded Ross students and faculty that it was on the steps of the Michigan Union in 1960 that, then Senator John F. Kennedy launched the idea of the Peace Corps by challenging University of Michigan students to serve their country and engage the world in the cause of peace by living and working in developing nations. Dr. Pitsuwan also announced his recent discovery that name of his organization, ASEAN, was conceived here at the University of Michigan by Professor Russell l Fifield who proposed Southeast Asia as a regional concept, and even suggested that Southeast Asian nations join together for the sake of economic prosperity and political stability, and call themselves ASEAN: the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Dr. Pitsuwan ended his address by calling upon the students at Ross, the greater University of Michigan, and the future leaders of this world to "continue to engage this world. The world is waiting for your engagement and leadership. We are in it together. Only together can we make it out of this crisis." 

Over 600 students, faculty and members of the community registered to participate in the ten geographic (China, India, Korea, Japan, ASEAN) and industry-specific (Technology, Healthcare, Energy, Finance and Corporate Social Responsibility) panels offered on Saturday. A few of the topics covered included: the Renewable Energy Market in Asia, the Future of the Automotive industry in Japan and the United States, Corporate Citizenship in an Uncertain Economy, Opportunities and Challenges for the Medical Device Industry in Asia, and the Impact of the Financial Crisis on the Development of Asia. 

This year's conference was a great success, and would not have been possible without the tremendous dedication and organizational skills of the 31-strong team of Ross students involved with the event. The ABC executive committee included MBA1s, MBA2s, Evening MBAs, and BBAs. In addition, we are indebted to our faculty advisor, Professor Linda Lim, for her guidance, support and encouragement throughout the entire planning and execution process. The 19th Annual ABC executive committee also wishes to thank all of its organizers, volunteers, panel moderators and generous corporate and university sponsors for making this year's conference a success. We look forward to seeing you at next year's hallmark 20th Anniversary conference. 

For those who missed the keynote speech, the online video can be accessed at www.rossabc.org (under the "Keynote" tab).

ASEAN foundation to provide research scholarship to Myanmar students

Philstar, March 16, 2009 11:06 PM 

YANGON (Xinhua) - The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foundation will provide research scholarship to Myanmar students to pursue master degree in the Singapore National university, the local Weekly Eleven reported today. 

The foundation sets that the scholarship winning students are to work for at least two years in their mother country or one of ASEAN countries after getting master degree, the report said, adding that the application for the scholarship will close on March 25. 

The ASEAN foundation was established in 1997 to support the continued development of the people in the ASEAN countries. 

Meanwhile, other ASEAN member countries were also offering scholarship to Myanmar students in education and technological fields, according to earlier report. 

The Nanyang Institute of Management (NIM) and the PSB Academy of Singapore made such offer for pursual of diploma in tourism and hospitality management program. 

Besides, the Rangsit university of Thailand will also hold a seminar in Yangon along with its university entrance examination to select Myanmar students who deserve scholarships, other report said. 

Moreover, a Malaysian company, the Petronas Oil Company, also granted scholarships to Myanmar students to study at the Petronas Technological University in January.