An Evalation Of Korean Cultural Diversity Policies Related To The Unesco Convvention
residents) in January 2018(Ministry of Justice). Immigration policies related to this increase in so-called “foreign residents” have be formulated as “multicultural policies”.
However, confusion has arisen as to the meaning of ‘multicultural policy’ and ‘cultural diversity policy’ as cultural diversity becomes more of an issue in Korea. After the Convention, Korea enacted the Act on Protection of Cultural Diversity (referred to as the "Cultural Diversity Act") on May 28th, 2014, in order to implement the Convention. The Act contains 14 provisions, including the definitions of the Convention, provisions defining the duty of country and people, basic plans, committees, annual reporting, education, and professional training. As of 2018, 12 out of 17 municipalities have enacted an Ordinance on Cultural Diversity. As a result, cultural diversity policies have been implemented widely.
Cultural Diversity Policy In Korea
Cultural diversity policies from other countries are presented in The UNESCO Periodic Report. However, because the policy is implemented according to the situation of the country, policy is different in each country (Kim, 2017a: 48).
To show that the Convention is being implemented in Korea, the cultural diversity policy classification should be adapted to the Korean situation. The classification of cultural diversity policy in Korea is below.
First, it is traditional culture policy. Traditional culture, which is also mentioned in the Convention, is the beginning of cultural diversity in Korea. Despite the difficulties experienced by Korea going through periods of colonization and war, a new government was introduced and the traditional culture policy was the first cultural policy. The Convention refers to the importance of traditional culture. Traditional cultural policies can be classified as protection, promotion, education, dissemination and succession, and museums.
Second, it is modern cultural diversity and arts. Efforts to improve the arts and creative requirement for cultural diversity are continuously expanding. Policy in this area recognizes not only the value of art in culture, but also in the promotion of diversity of cultural expression including artistic creation, enjoyment, participation, experience, and cyclical activities of consumption. It also emphasizes the importance of cultural diversity to 'quality of life', and also to fundamental 'human rights' (Ryoo, 2016: 41). Cultural identity should be preserved along with cultural characteristics in conjunction with cultural rights, protection of language and customs of minor ethnicities. Policies are categorized as artist and network formation.
Third, it is Cultural industry policy. The foundation of the Korean cultural industry has begun with the Basic Act on the Promotion of the Cultural Industry on February 8th, 1999. The Korean cultural industry has been developed and the cultural industry law has been revised and implemented. In the early days, the cultural industry was a major strategic industry in the country, and it has been changed in a rapidly changing environment, such as with the advancement of digital technology. Now, the cultural industry in Korea is changing according to the times.
Fourth, it is Immigrant policy. Based on the numbers of migrant workers (583,316 in June 2018, Korean Government Statistics) and marriage immigrants (155,255 in June 2018, Korean Government Statistics) since the 1980s, Korea has become a multicultural society. The Law on Employment of Foreign Workers (2003) and The Multicultural Family Support Act (2008) were enacted for immigrants to integrate into Korean society. However, in the early stage of migrant policy, policies for foreign workers were implemented based on economic interests. The migrant policy has gradually become more assimilative, and migrants have experienced discrimination and exclusion. Immigrant policy can be classified as foreigners/immigrants, defectors from North Korea, and compatriots.
Fifth, it is cultural welfare policy. Cultural welfare policy has narrowed the cultural gap and has provided many benefits to minorities. Until now, cultural welfare policy has been implemented for all citizens so that they could enjoy culture.
Cultural welfare policy now focuses on minorities such as the underprivileged and low-income families in Korea.
Cultural diversity, which emphasizes individual differences rather than ethnic or racial differences, is an important part of cultural welfare policy. Cultural welfare policies are focused on women, the elderly, poverty, children/adolescents, and people with disabilities.
Sixth, it is the importance of multicultural education or cultural diversity education. Cultural diversity education is aimed at understanding and respecting various cultures. Cultural diversity education changes perception and when their perception changes, people change. Respecting differences should begin with the indigenous people in the country. Therefore, cultural diversity education can be called civic education. Cultural diversity should be able to emerge in education through teacher education and curriculum including school education.
Lastly, it is international cooperation policy for UNESCO Cultural Diversity. Policy will create and support events, education and broadcasting programs to promote Korean culture. Korea will strengthen its global competitiveness by exchanging culture such as arts, music and history with various cities around the world and dispatch youth and youth leaders. Through international cooperation policies, it is possible to acknowledge and respect differences.
Evaluation Of Cultural Diversity Policy Of Korea
Korea's cultural diversity policy is based on Cultural Diversity expressed in the Convention. Cultural diversity policy is concentrated in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Cultural diversity policies such as the enactment of cultural diversity regulations are being implemented in central ministries and municipalities. The cultural diversity policy of Korea has the following characteristics.
First, after the arrival of multicultural society due to the increase of migrants, it became interested in the policy of cultural diversity rather than protection of traditional culture. Second, the concept of multicultural policy and cultural diversity policy have been confused as the immigrant policy has been defined as a multicultural policy. It means that cultural diversity policy is limited to the field of culture in immigration policy. Third, the meaning of education for cultural diversity is diminishing because multicultural education is narrowly understood as policies for marriage immigrants. Fourth, because immigration policy is implemented by various ministries, the functions of managing immigrant policies or multicultural policies are weak, and the concept of cultural diversity policy has become narrow.
Fifth, due to lack of understanding about the concept of cultural diversity at the local government level, duplicate policy has appeared.
The interest of introduction and the production and enjoyment of minority cultures such as Asian cultures is continues to increase. However, due to the tendency to overlap with immigration policies, preserving Korean traditional culture or introducing Korean culture to immigrants may be mistaken for assimilation in a single national culture or multicultural society model. On the contrary, there is a certain concern about the increase of immigrants and refugees.
This phenomenon stems from the lack of consensus formation that cultural diversity contributes to the development and sustainability of Korean and world culture.
Cocclusion
In Korea, there were policies of protection of traditional culture and Korean cultural contents before the Convention.
However, it was not based on sustainable development or the Convention. Even after Korea adopted the Convention, cultural diversity policy is confused with multicultural policy and it is concentrated in the immigrant. The diversity of cultural expressions, including traditional cultural expressions, is an important factor that allows individuals and peoples to express and to share with others their ideas and value. So the policy should be implemented based on the Convention and includes cultural diversity. The limitation of cultural diversity policy in Korea is that cultural diversity policies are narrowly understood because of confusion between the concepts of cultural diversity policy and multicultural policy. The improvement is that the policy should clarify the concept of cultural diversity and have control tower to reduce confusion between cultural diversity policy and multicultural policy.
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