With Guest Professor Dong-Hoon Seol

Dr. Dong-Hoon Seol is a Professor of Sociology at Jeonbuk National University (JBNU), and the director of the Institute for Social Development at JBNU. He is former president of the Korean Sociological Association in 2023. He received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in sociology from Seoul National University. His research interests include sociology of immigration, citizenship studies, multicultural sociology, social inequality, social policy, and social survey methodology. His e-mail address is dhseol [at] jbnu.ac.kr.

Program

9:30-9:45: Introduction by Laurence Roulleau-Berger, Emeritus Research Director at CNRS, PhD Supervisor in Sociology, Triangle, ENS de Lyon.

9:45-10:15: Dong-Hoon Seol, Professor of Sociology at Jeonbuk National University (JBNU): Young Asian Migrant Workers in South Korea: Citizenship under the Low-Skilled Guest Worker Regime

Dong-Hoon Seol examines the experiences of young Asian migrant workers in South Korea, focusing on the dynamics of citizenship as shaped by the Employment Permit System (EPS) for foreigners. While the EPS was introduced as a regulatory mechanism to address labor shortages in low-wage and less-skilled sectors, it has also institutionalized a segmented labor regime in which young migrants occupy precarious and temporary positions. Drawing on theories of hierarchical and differential citizenship,Dong-Hoon Seol analyzes how migrant workers' rights are circumscribed by their legal status, employment contracts, and limited pathways to social inclusion.

The analysis highlights three interrelated dimensions: first, the economic incorporation of young migrants into sectors shunned by domestic youth, where their contribution is instrumental yet undervalued; second, the social exclusion they face, manifested in restricted access to welfare, education, and civic participation; and third, the strategies of adaptation and resilience that migrants employ in navigating structural barriers. By situating the Korean case within broader debates on migrant labor governance in East Asia, the presentation demonstrates how the EPS simultaneously enables labor market participation and reinforces exclusionary forms of citizenship.

Ultimately, Dong-Hoon Seol argues that young migrant workers in South Korea experience a conditional and fragmented form of citizenship—recognized as essential workers in the economy, yet denied substantive rights as social and political members. This presentation contributes to the scholarship on migration, youth, and citizenship by revealing the contradictions of temporary labor migration regimes and by calling for more inclusive policy approaches that move beyond the narrow utilitarian logic of labor supply management.

Seol, Dong-Hoon. 2012. “The Citizenship of Foreign Workers in South Korea.”Citizenship Studies, 16(1): 119-133.

Seol, Dong-Hoon. 2018. “Population Aging and International Migration Policy in South Korea.” Journal of the Korean Welfare State and Social Policy, 2(2): 73-108.

Seol, Dong-Hoon, and Hye-Sun Kim. 2024. International Migration to the Republic of Korea: SOPEMI Country Report 2024. Paris: OECD.

10:15-11:00: Discussion by Run Li PhD student in Sociology, ENS de Lyon and ECNU, Triangle

11:00-11:30: Jinwoo Shin, PhD student in Sociology, ENS de Lyon, Triangle: L'Injonction au corps productif des réfugiés et des demandeurs d'asile à Séoul-Gyeonggi

La carrière migratoire et professionnelle des réfugiés et des demandeurs d'asile se complexifie de plus en plus en raison des ancrages transnationaux de différents capitaux qui se contestent, se confrontent, se réagencent et se réordonnent en fonction des marges de manœuvre retrouvées dans le processus de traduction. Dès leur arrivée en Corée du Sud, les migrants forcés sont souvent incapables d'envisager un avenir stable ou de créer un « planning social ». Cette précarité abrupte affecte leur bien-être corporel et les force à accepter des emplois précaires, souvent peu qualifiés, pour subvenir aux besoins de leur famille en Corée et à travers le monde.

Contrairement à la France qui a mis en place des dispositifs d'orientation professionnelle, les institutions sud-coréennes n'offrent pratiquement aucun soutien aux réfugiés et aux demandeurs d'asile. De ce fait, leurs compétences et ressources sont ignorées et deviennent inutiles. Les réfugiés se retrouvent surnuméraires sur le marché du travail qualifié, contraints d'accepter des emplois manuels ou subalternes. Ils doivent alors exprimer une autre forme de productivité, plutôt physique. Face à cette nouvelle forme de biopolitique de Séoul, les corporéités mobiles, mais aussi immobiles des réfugiés s'invisibilisent, se survisiblisent ou s'aliènent, aboutissant à un corps autonome et agissant. Cette intervention vise à revisiter la Corée comme pays d'accueil des réfugiés, en mettant en lumière les questions émergentes sur la corporéité auxquelles sont confrontés les réfugiés et les demandeurs d'asile en Corée du Sud, afin de comprendre la complexité de ce sujet migratoire novateur dans un contexte est-asiatique.

11:30-12:00: Discussion by Run Li, PhD student in Sociology, ENS de Lyon and ECNU, Triangle

12:00-12:15: Conclusion