Immigration News: July, 2005 - Volume 12

Japan, Korea

Japan's population is projected to peak in 2006 and then begin to decline, but there are no plans to open the country to large-scale immigration. Japan has 1.9 million foreign residents, half ethnic Koreans and Chinese who were mostly born in Japan, followed by 350,000 ethnic Japanese from Latin American, often the descendents of Japanese who emigrated. Many of these Latin Americans work in the auto industry.

The Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau said that the number for foreign nationals registered as residents in Japan was 1,973,747 at the end of 2004, setting a new record for the 36th consecutive year. The number increased from 2003 by 58,717 and was 1.55 percent of the population in Japan. North and South Koreans, including those born in Japan, made up nearly 31 percent of the total. Chinese were second with nearly 25 percent and Brazilians were 14 percent.

Japan is grappling with whether it would be better to remain the second most populous industrial country or become less populous. A major business group, the Federation of Economic Organizations, wants large-scale immigration, arguing that, with projections showing that two-thirds of the population of a closed Japan would be aged 60 or more by 2050, it is likely that the country will have to import foreign caregivers in any event. The FEO wants to select immigrants and integrate them.

Public opinion is ambivalent about immigration, with many Japanese reporting that they fear more immigration will mean more crime.

Korea. Korea had 199,000 unauthorized foreign workers in April 2005; they were over half the total of 378,000 foreign workers. Korea had a registration between August and November 2003 that granted two-year work visas to 180,000 unauthorized workers, and promised a crackdown on the unauthorized. There were 16,000 illegal foreign workers and 30,000 Korean-Chinese left by May 2005.

Some unauthorized foreign workers did not register, and some who did are not planning to leave when their work permits expire for fear that they cannot re-enter.

Some 600 migrants from Bangladesh, Nepal, the Philippines and Indonesia established a union, the Seoul-Gyeonggi Incheon Migrant Trade Union (MTU), in April 2005, but the government refused to recognize it and arrested its leader. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), the Peoples Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) and the human rights group Sarangbang denounced the government.

A revised Nationality Act effective in May 2005 prohibits a male from giving up his Korean citizenship unless he finishes Korean military service, prompting almost 2,000 Korean men with dual citizenship to give up Korean citizenship just before the law went into effect. Those who renounce Korean citizenship will have their names published in an official gazette. Previously, dual nationals had to choose one nationality before turning 17.

In a sign of growing nationalism, a pending bill would prohibit children who acquire foreign citizenship while their parents are overseas for a short period from attending Korean universities as Koreans.

"1 Migrant Workers Union Banned," Korea Times, June 6, 2005. "No. of foreign residents in Japan hits record for 36th straight year," Japan Economic Newswire, June 17, 2005. Bae Keun-min, "1,820 give up Korean nationality," Korea Times, May 24, 2005.