Policy Stance on 'Preferential Treatment for Multicultural Families' May Change...Government Reexamines Criteria, Gyeonggi Province Reorganizes

As President Lee Jae-myung publicly questioned the necessity of preferential treatment for multicultural families, and Gyeonggi Province moves to dissolve its Immigration and Social Integration Bureau, changes are emerging in immigration and multicultural policies of the central government and local governments.

According to the Presidential Office and Gyeonggi Province on the 29th, the government is reexamining the criteria for prioritized use of public postpartum care facilities extended to multicultural family mothers, while Gyeonggi Province is pursuing organizational restructuring to dissolve the Immigration and Social Integration Bureau and integrate its functions into other departments.

While the two measures have different backgrounds and purposes, the fact that preferential treatment for multicultural families and a dedicated immigration and social integration organization are both under reexamination draws attention.

The Presidential Office announced through a statement signed by Senior Secretary for Population Policy Im Ho-geun that day, "We will review amendments to the Maternal and Child Health Act Executive Order so that the benefits of the postpartum care facility priority use system can be directed primarily to mothers in greater need."

Previously, President Lee shared a post from an online community on his social media, raising the necessity for reexamination regarding multicultural family mothers and mothers of national meritorious persons being classified as the same second priority in Seoul's Peace of Mind Postpartum Care Center reservations.

President Lee stated that he would consult with local governments and review amendments to the executive order to determine whether it is necessary to go beyond protecting multicultural families from discrimination to provide separate preferential treatment, or whether the preferential treatment system should be abolished.

The current Maternal and Child Health Act Executive Order stipulates that multicultural family mothers are eligible for priority use or fee reductions at public postpartum care facilities, along with national meritorious persons and basic livelihood security recipients.

Such equity concerns are also being raised in the childcare facility admission process. Under the current Early Childhood Care and Education Act, children of multicultural families are included in the first priority for childcare facility admission alongside children from dual-income households, multi-child households, and basic livelihood security recipients.

The core of the controversy is that no separate income requirements are applied to the multicultural family qualification, meaning that priority admission can be granted regardless of economic circumstances.

The Presidential Office drew a line, stating that this reexamination is not intended to eliminate support for multicultural families itself.

Secretary Im explained that the current postpartum care facility priority use criteria were established in June 2016, and that a reexamination of existing regulations is necessary as policy support for multicultural families has since expanded.

Secretary Im stated, "We will carefully observe the difficulties that multicultural families may still experience in Korean society and thoroughly support them to ensure that blind spots do not occur."

As the government reexamines equity in support for multicultural families, controversy over the existence of Gyeonggi Province's dedicated immigration and social integration organization continues.

The first organizational restructuring plan for the 9th term of the Choo Mi-ae administration includes dissolving the Immigration and Social Integration Bureau and integrating it with functions of the Women and Family Bureau to create a Gender Equality and Family Bureau.

The province announced on the 20th a restructuring plan reducing the headquarters organization from the existing 30 offices/bureaus and 151 divisions to 25 offices/bureaus and 141 divisions, and held legislative notice from the 21st to the 26th. The province explained that the restructuring aims at adjusting functions between organizations and improving administrative efficiency.

The Immigration and Social Integration Bureau was established as the first of its kind among metropolitan local governments in July 2024 during the tenure of former Governor Kim Dong-yeon. The dissolution of an independent bureau-level organization dedicated to immigrant policy comes approximately two years and three months after its launch.

However, immigrant, labor, and human rights organizations are opposing the move, arguing that the loss of an independent dedicated organization could weaken the expertise and continuity of policies related to migrant worker protection and multicultural family support.

The Gyeonggi Province Foreign National Welfare Center Council held a press conference at 11 a.m. that day in front of the Open Civil Petition Room of the provincial government, demanding withdrawal of the plan to dissolve the Immigration and Social Integration Bureau.

Concerns about administrative vacuums resulting from the Immigration and Social Integration Bureau restructuring have also been raised at the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly. Kim Yong-seong, chairman of the Women, Family and Lifelong Education Committee of the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly, held a discussion meeting with officials from migrant support organizations on the 26th to hear opinions on the organizational restructuring.

In response to the opposition, Governor Choo instructed on the 27th that opinions submitted during the legislative notice period be sufficiently reviewed and, if necessary, the bill be re-notified for legislation. The province plans to submit the final organizational restructuring plan in November after gathering opinions and consulting with the provincial assembly.