The Formation of Social Constructions of Female Marriage Migrants and Female Work Migrants in South Korea

Immigration issues have come to the forefront in recent years in Korea, where various groups of immigrants have seemingly been viewed in different ways. This study examines the social constructions of two types of female immigrants; marriage migrants and work migrants. The main focus is to compare two relatively similar groups of immigrants to ask ‘who is deserving and who is not?’, in other words, which groups of immigrants benefit from positive social constructions, and which are construed more negatively. In particular, the effects of historical legacies, narrative portrayals in the press, and public policies are examined. Data were collected from various sources including 586 articles from five major national newspapers, and research reports from public and nonprofit agencies. Analysis results can be summarized as; first, the mixed race issue in Korea has significant effect on the formation of the social constructions of female immigrants in terms of historical legacy. Second, the results reveal different patterns of social construction between the two target populations. The press and policymakers appear to be mostly in favor of the assimilation of female marriage migrants into Korean society. Although there are relatively many policies for female marriage migrants, immigration policies in Korea lack gender perspectives. Finally, it would be good to note that portrayals of female immigrants in the media should be changed to overcome the stereotype of female immigrants because the media plays a vital role in framing images of female immigrants, which consequently reinforces path dependency. Media, including newsprint, should not portray them as a stereotype, but make efforts to portray the diversity of female immigrants, especially treating them not as objects of action, but as actors.