Publications

Institute for Future Strategy Issue Brief, September Vol. 42
“A Shift in Immigration Policy Perspective: From Assimilation to Integration”

This issue brief explores the long-term direction of Korea’s immigration policy in the face of rapid demographic changes, labour shortages, and the risk of regional decline. It first analyses the global expansion of international migration and the increasing immigrant population within Korea, emphasising the need for systematic policy design based not only on short-term labour supply or adaptation support but also on long-term settlement and integration.

In particular, it highlights the limitations of the existing immigration policy, which views immigrants merely as a “means of solving problems,” and underscores the importance of a paradigm shift that recognises them as equal members of Korean society. The brief also evaluates the Fourth Basic Plan for Immigration Policy, offering key policy recommendations such as: realising integration policies in practice, strengthening decentralisation, restoring balance between economic and integration goals, enhancing responsiveness to global and domestic changes, and establishing a policy control tower through the creation of an Immigration Agency.

In this context, the issue brief stresses that a sustainable multicultural society can only be achieved when Korean society recognises immigrants not as simple economic resources but as equal members of the community.

Keywords
Korea’s immigration policy, international migration, paradigm shift, Fourth Basic Plan for Immigration Policy, multicultural society, sustainability