Racism and health in South Korea: history, concept, and systematic review

Abstract

To understand racism and its impact on health in South Korea, it is essential to consider the political and social context of the migrant population, including ethnic Korean migrants, marriage migrants, migrant workers, and bi-ethnic adolescents. This paper has two goals. First, we examined the increasing trends of the foreign population in South Korea, with a focus on the growth of migrant workers and marriage migrants. Following this, we reviewed the historical contexts and discussed the characteristics of racism in South Korea: ‘ethnic homogeneity’, ‘White supremacy’, and ‘ethnic discrimination against ethnic Koreans’. Second, we conducted a systematic review of 43 articles on the association between discrimination and health among racially and ethnically minoritized populations in South Korea. The review revealed statistically significant associations across various migrant groups but highlighted several limitations: all studies were cross-sectional, many used non-standardized discrimination measures, all focused on interpersonal discrimination, most examined mental health outcomes, and certain migrant groups were neglected in the research. Future research is needed to address these gaps.

Funding

This work was supported by the New Faculty Startup Fund from Seoul National University.