The Koreans Media Coverage on Migrant Workers Unionization Issues in South Korea

Abstract

This thesis aims to illustrate and analyze how the South Korean mass media covering migrant workers unionism issues in South Korea, limited to the English-language online media publication in the country. The issue of migrant workers unionism is significant in South Korea since there has been an undiminishing trend of migrant workers inflows to South Korea since the 1990s, which has resulted in the steady rise of the number of migrant workers during the last three decades. Nevertheless, the frequent changes in South Koreas migrant workers admission system brought several human and workers rights problems faced by migrant workers in South Korea, which later birthed the undocumented migrant workers issues that try to be addressed by the migrant workers union and covered by mass media in South Korea. The Migrants Trade Union (MTU) establishment case has been chosen in this thesis since its struggle to be the first legal independent migrant labor union in South Korea took more than a decade to be recognized by the Korean government due to its membership that also included undocumented migrant workers and further can illuminate how the contemporary migrant workers unionism in South Korea keeps on emerging. Through a qualitative media observation inquiry and framing analysis, this research further elaborates and identifies MTUs main aspirations and challenges throughout its establishment period from 2002 to 2015. The findings from four English-medium online media in South Korea present that the main aspirations of the MTU have been circled inside the currently adopted Employment Permit System (EPS) of South Koreas migrant workers admission system. MTU argued that EPS is the primary source of a latent problem of migrant workers rights issues and undocumented migrant workers presence in the country, and MTU aspired that the system should be changed. However, the MTUs solid aspiration for changing the EPS has then tampered with the legalization process of the union since this aspiration is perceived as convoluted with the political agenda. This is also remembering that MTU is also identified in this research as the most vocal and well-covered civic group concerning migrant workers rights issues in South Korea.