ABSTRACT

While South Korean racism and discrimination against migrant workers and foreign brides are not new phenomenon, some early policies adopted by the central and local governments to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 have once again revealed the country’s deep-seated xenophobia. This paper focuses on three government policies – mask rationing, universal disaster relief funds, and local government subsidies – that were adopted during the first wave of coronavirus in South Korea from February until June 2020, when supplies were insufficient and the economy was most severely affected. This paper highlights the fact that government policies were based on nationality, which led to the exclusion of foreign nationals, even long-time taxpaying residents. Such institutional discrimination was blatant, considering the country’s decades-long discussion of multiculturalism. This paper points out that, as a country with a very low number of naturalized citizens, discrimination against foreign nationals not only reflects South Korea’s perceived boundaries of in-groups and out-groups, but also demonstrates the lack of a legal basis that prohibits discriminatory practices.

摘要

虽然韩国对农民工和外国新娘的种族主义和歧视并不是新现象，但中央和地方政府为减轻 Covid-19 影响而采取的一些早期政策再次暴露了该国根深蒂固的仇外心理。本文重点介绍三项政府政策——口罩配给、全民救灾基金和地方政府补贴——在韩国第一波冠状病毒爆发期间（2020 年 2 月至 2020 年 6 月），当时供应不足，经济受到最严重的影响。 . 本文强调了这样一个事实，即政府政策基于国籍，这导致排斥外国人，甚至是长期纳税的居民。这种制度歧视是赤裸裸的，考虑到该国数十年来对多元文化的讨论。本文指出，作为一个入籍公民极少的国家，对外国人的歧视不仅反映了韩国对内群体和外群体的感知界限，也表明韩国缺乏禁止歧视的法律依据。做法。