Trends and Emerging Issues of Human Mobility between Korea and ASEAN

초록

This paper reviews and highlights trends and emerging issues in movement of people between Korea and ASEAN countries with a focus on short-term visitors and long-term migrants. The movement of people has dramatically increased and sustained over the past several decades, especially since the early 1990s. There is little doubt that this change is accelerated by deepening economic and sociocultural relationships between Korea and ASEAN countries. Apart from tourists and other types of short-term visitors, long-term migrants including migrant workers, international students and marriage migrants as well as their family members are increasingly becoming important constituents of foreign residents in Korea. In particular, as many of these permanent migrants and their family members are facing different sets of their mobility issues such as intergenerational or social mobilities, the study into their current and future challenges should take into account on newly emerging aspects on ‘second generation’ issues. Anecdotal findings of ongoing research on this area suggest that more research grounded on emerging issues of these migrants in their family and local levels are much needed. The policies informed by such grounded research may ease practical challenges, embedded in emerging issues of human mobility between Korea and ASEAN.