hankyoreh

Sheets of paper for studying Korean taped to the walls of the temporary residence of Yemeni asylum seeker Jamal and his family on Jeju Island. (Kang Jae-hoon

Refugees have become one of the most hotly debated topics in South Korea since the arrival of around 500 Yemeni asylum seekers on Jeju Island. But no previous specifics were available on public opinion in terms of whether South Koreans support or oppose the humanitarian acceptance of the asylum seekers and where they stand in the refugee debate.

Working with the non-profit public research network Public View and the polling organization Time Research, the Hankyoreh conducted a deliberative web survey of 700 adult men and women across South Korea on Aug. 26 and 27. The result showed blue collar progressives in their fifties to be relatively accepting of refugees. Among respondents, 76.7 percent agreed with a restrictive approach including segregation – still substantially outnumbering the 23.3 percent who favored a more accepting approach.

The segments that showed the most accepting attitudes toward refugees included blue collar workers (production and services), respondents in their fifties, and those leaning progressive. While an accepting approach was favored by only 12 percent of students and 23 percent of stay-at-home mothers, 30.5 percent of respondents working in production and service positions showed accepting attitudes.

By age group, more support for an accepting approach was found among respondents in their fifties (37 percent) than younger ones in their twenties (11.9 percent) and thirties (17.6 percent). The results appeared to conflict with prevailing notions that more humanitarian attitudes would be found among white collar workers and younger people.

“It appears that more accepting attitudes on the refugee issue were shown by production and service workers, who have more opportunities to encounter foreign workers than those in other job classes,” said Time Research president Park Hae-seong.

Rather than simply asking individuals to state their positions for or against something, a deliberative web survey involves asking about changes to their position after they have heard a counterargument. Respondents in the survey were presented with six arguments opposing their own position; an examination showed no major changes in the general public opinion situation.

The proportion of respondents favoring a restrictive approach dipped slightly from 76.7 to 74.1 percent, while the proportion favoring a more accepting approach rose from 23.3 to 25.5 percent. Of the 700 respondents taking part, 90 (12.8 percent) showed at least one change of opinion during the deliberation process.

In terms of the arguments that changed respondent minds, those who favored an accepting approach toward asylum seekers were most often swayed by the position that there was “no reason to accept refugees when South Korea is already accepting a large number of economic migrants and North Korean defectors.”

Other arguments that proved strongly persuasive included claims that “the acceptance of refugees from other cultural spheres could harm social unity” and “the influx of refugee applicants could take jobs away from South Koreans.”

Two arguments proved effective in changing the minds of respondents who favored excluding asylum seekers: the positions that “inflows of refugee applicants and other foreigners represent an unavoidable global trend, and the institutional groundwork needs to be laid for coexistence with international residents” and that “South Korea too has a history of refugees migrating to other countries in the past due to the Japanese occupation and Korean War.”

The results suggest respondents were swayed by the realist position that the refugee issue can no longer be avoided and an emotional appeal noting Koreans’ own history as refugees.

“The fear that there will be social conflict and jobs will be taken away if foreigners come into the country is not a realistic fear, but one based on imaginary worries,” said Hankuk University of Foreign Studies law professor Cho Jung-hyun.

“Rather than climbing on the bandwagon of public opinion against [accepting] refugees, the government should be leading the way in establishing a system to lay the fears to rest,” Cho argued.

By Lim Jae-woo, staff reporter

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