International labor migration has increasingly become important to Nepalese households of all classes. Among the regions of labor receiving countries, East Asia occupies a unique position as desirable but difficult destinations for aspiring migrants. Japan and South Korea (Korea hereafter) represent two such examples.
Similar to other labor-receiving countries of Asia, both Japan and Korea aim to prevent permanent settlement of unskilled migrants, while employing them as temporary workers in the industries shunned by citizen workers. As recent countries of immigration, the two nations wish to preserve their social homogeneity, reluctantly accepting foreign workers in the face of growing economic and demographic needs. Despite many common contexts of immigration, since the 2000s the two states have taken different policies of admission, employment and residence for unskilled migrants.
In 2004 after intense national debates, Korea launched the Employment Permit System (EPS) by which migrants arrive to work for 4 years and 10 months with the rights and conditions equal to Korean workers. In spite of severe criticisms and profound changes taking place over the past 15 years, the program still remains to be the reliable, legal method for small employers to recruit, hire and retain their foreign work forces. In contrast, Japan continues to implement the Technical Internship Program (TIP) by which migrants engage in unskilled jobs as interns for up to five years. In April 2019, the government launched the Specific Technical Program (STP) by which migrants are admitted as workers in the selected 14 industries, although its effects remain to be unknown at this writing.
For Nepalese migrants, both Japan and Korea are attractive destinations. Since the 1990s the Nepalese have migrated to each country, laboring and residing as undocumented workers, international students, skilled employees and their dependents. In this study, I adopt the Nepalese as an example of labor migrants who seek in earnest a destination that allows them to secure high wages and stable residence. However, differing immigration policies of Japan and Korea provide them with contrasting ways for them to achieve their objectives and results. They also suggest rapidly shifting definitions of skills in policy making. Using published statistics, existing studies and interviews with migrants, activists, researchers and policy makers in Japan, Korea and Nepal, I examine history, ideology, policy and practice of Nepalese labor migration to Japan and Korea and explore possible reasons for diverging effects of the converging goals between the two East Asian nation-states.
