Tackling East Asian Migration Regimes: Challenges and Opportunities for East Asian Democracies

East Asian democracies which have achieved steady socio-economic development, as well as experiencing population ageing, began receiving foreign
workers and marriage migrants three or four decades ago. In spite of the lack of any regional supranational frameworks comparable to the EU, intriguing similarities can be found in the migration patterns of the region. The similarities include guestworker-type labor migration, co-ethnic migration, a reluctance to welcome refugees, in addition to the high incidence of marriage migration and care/domestic work migration incorporated in familialistic welfare regimes. Their overall exclusive attitude toward immigrants is a puzzle, considering their deepening reproductive crisis. Policy makers as well as the general public are still cautious about the inclusion of immigrants as potential members of the nation. Some might argue that these features are related to their unique concepts of “nationhood” and “family” stemming from their cultural traditions or historical factors including the persistent “cold war” in the region.

In this session, we examine the nature of migration regimes in East Asia by comparing migration patterns and institutions focusing on Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan and placing them in a wider context, incorporating the views of sending countries. Migration is an effective topic to capture the challenges and opportunities for East Asian societies which are leaving the relic of developmentalist regimes and trying to upgrade their democracies. We intend to encourage regional and global dialogue on the reforms of East Asian migration regimes and the future of East Asian democracies.