ICTs for Integration of Immigrants: Case studies from South Korea

Abstract

In 2013, 232 million people worldwide lived in places other than their place of birth. People migrate for many different reasons such as economic, social, political, or environmental reasons. Compared to a time when one letter or package could take months to arrive, maintaining contact with family has become cheaper and more convenient with the support of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Although ICT has made a big impact on how people are able to communicate with one another, the connections between ICT and migration have been under-researched and have not received much attention until recently. The successful immigration process can be measured by migrants integration to their new place of residency. This study aims to better understand how immigrant communities in South Korea use ICT in their integration into the host society and how it impacts their lives. A model was proposed to reveal ICT usage in social, economic, linguistic, and cultural integration and its effect on overall migration. A survey was taken using an online survey platform, and factor analysis and multiple regressions were conducted using a statistical package to fulfill the objective, answer the research question, and test the hypothesis. Results show that foreigners living in South Korea use ICT in their social, cultural, and linguistic integration. They also show that ICT for integration has a positive impact on their migration. Therefore, the government should recognize a need to support and enable ICT based opportunities so that migrants can integrate successfully, thus helping a multicultural society to be formed. The study is contributed to the empirical and theoretical background of the ICT and migration topic as well as recommended policy implications and insights which can support the immigration and multiculturalism policy in South Korea.