• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.523-539
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• 2006

The purpose of this study is to explain the growth of the business area for migrant workers and the spatial characteristics of the start-up of business, location selection and market area of the employers from foreign countries by focusing on the ethnic networks in Wongok-Dong, Ansan. The results of this study are summarized as follows. The businesses for Chinese workers among migrant workers are located densely and have many kinds of businesses relative to the businesses for migrants from other countries having small number of migrant workers in this area. Moreover, The employers from foreign countries come to Korea through the migrant networks. And they are located in Wongok-Dong, Ansan in which the migrants community is developed. These things made it clear that they regard ethnic networks as important factor for migrant businesses. While the market area of businesses for Chinese workers is restricted to Wongok-Dong or Ansan city, the market areas of businesses for migrant workers from other countries are expanded nationwide through ethnic networks.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.800-823
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• 2004

This paper aims at examining the ways in which foreign immigrant workers in South Korea have been "forgotten" and "marginalized" in the regulatory politics of globalization and how the politics of "forgetting" has influenced the formation of immigrant local communities in South Korea. More specifically, by focusing on the immigrant community in Wongok dong, Ansan, it explores the forming questions. First, under what conditions has Wongok' dong become one of the biggest communities for foreign workers in South Korea? Second, how has the growth of the Wongok-dong immigrant community been influenced by the politics of "exclusion", and "inclusion" taking place at various geographical scales? Based on this case study, this paper suggests that the practices of "exclusion" and "forgetting" should not be seen as an inevitable outcome of globalization; instead, they need to be seen as an outcome of political processes, in which the practices of "exclusion" and "inclusion" are intertwined with one another through interactions and negotiations among different interests and ideas that take place in the multi-scalar regulatory processes, which contribute to the (material and discursive) construction of globalization.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.559-578
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• 2016

According to the rapid increase of foreign immigrants, South Korea recently has grown more and more interested in the acceptance of cultural diversity in diverse fields at the whole society. Korea Library Association also has sought the way of multicultural service for foreign immigrants in libraries and many previous researches has suggested those. This paper examines the ways in which small community library functions for foreign immigrants, analyzing on the case of multicultural library located in Wongok-dong, Ansan-si, where about 80% population of residents are foreign immigrants. Ansan multicultural library has two functions in the community. One is the educational place for helping immigrants' settlement and adaptation of South Korea. The other is the cultural place for social integration between immigrants and South Koreans based on mutual understanding and communication. Ultimately this paper shows how values small library in the community has significantly for foreign immigrants.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.72-93
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• 2006

"Borderless village" is a kind of alternative social project to build a multi cultural community of migrant workers around Wongok-Dong, Ansan leaded by Ansan Migrant Center since 1999. We thought this project deserved attention from a view point of social sciences for such reasons as follows. (1)This project could give an opportunity for us to examine the concrete effects of globalization on local areas and responses of these areas to those ones. (2)This project was composed of theoretical concepts very similar to those of reflexive modernization theory. So by examining this project we could have a chance to judge the validity of the latter. (3)The process of making discourses on this project was very interesting. It looks like more democratic and constructive one than others. (4)This project proposed the problem of creating a new form or way of social movement different from so called 'old or new social movements.' Our provisional conclusion of this study was this project could be estimated as very creative and progressive one but it was too abstract to be realistic and effective yet.