• Korean Journal of Culture and Social Issue
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.39-69
• /
• 2008

The present study examined the overall receptivity of community members to migrant wives in Korea. A total of 23 community members from two regions, Ansan, an urban area and Youngam, a rural area, were selected for the interview based on their prior experience with migrant wives. Data were collected via a semi-structured interview method. The participants provided their personal feelings and thoughts on a variety of issues involving migrant wives, such as how they perceive migrant wives' original culture and lifestyles, the nature of their interaction experience with migrant wives, their overall evaluation of migrant wives, their opinions about migrant wives' cultural adaptation, and their opinions about the on-going transformation of the Korean society into a multi-racial, multi-cultural society. Interview results indicated that, although the participants' attitude toward migrant wives was positive, the overall receptivity to migrant wives was largely based on the traditional sex-role stereotypes typically found in the Korean society. Moreover, the vast majority of the participants endorsed a narrow-minded, uni-directional perspective on cultural adaptation which puts far greater emphasis on migrant wives' assimilation into the host culture than reciprocal influence process between the two cultures. Implications of the study and directions for future research were discussed.