Migration challenges and health policy in South Korea

Over the past four decades, South Korea (hereafter, Korea) has experienced some significant demographic transformations due to migration and changes in population patterns. It was once one of the major migrant-source countries. However, over the past three decades, Korea has become one of the major destination countries for international migrants. This chapter provides a historical perspective on the dynamics, types and process of migration in Korea. It then highlights the impact of migration on health from key perspectives such as intermarriage and labour migrants, North Korean refugees and the ageing population. It moves on to explore the implications for multiculturalism in Korea and concludes with a summary of the lessons learnt over the past four decades and their relevance in the future multicultural Korea.