Page 32 - Zenith2024

Zenith 2024

The two aspects of migrant cultural

adaptation between Culture Assimilation

and Multicultural Symbiotic Society

The appearance of migrant

Before starting, do you know the exact definition
of migrant? It is the term that refers to a person
who moves to live in another place for voluntary
reasons, or a person who moves to live in another
area. The number of migrants is increasing
every year due to globalization. This is the same
situation in Korea. At the end of 2007, the number
of foreign migrants staying in Korea exceeded
1million, and the new types of family such as a
multicultural family appeared.
As you know, the increasing in the number of migrants means that the number of cultures in
a society has also increased. So, the actions of the countries where migrants come are very
important. They faced the problem of how to adapt migrants to existing culture. Then, what is the
ideal direction which our society to pursue? Today, Zenith will suggest two types of solution which
might solve this problem.

The first way: Culture Assimilation
There are two ways to adapt migrants to the existing culture. The first one is culture assimilation.
Culture assimilation is the phenomenon that refers to the disappearance of a society’s culture
and replacement with a new culture through exchanges with other societies.
Culture assimilation can serve as a catalyst to reduce cultural conflict between migrants and
indigenous people at first glance. However, it may cause the extinction of identity of one of the
culture of migrants or indigenous people. In addition, when cultural assimilation is executed by
force, migrants may be considered “outsiders,” and experience discrimination. This could cause
another social conflict inversely.

The second way: Multicultural Symbolistic Society

The second way is becoming a Multicultural symbolistic society, which combines existing society
and the culture of migrants. This is a concept in which various cultures and races coexist within
a society, such as “the salad bowl theory,” maintaining their own identity such as race, religion,
and language. These days, many international societies are focusing on multicultural symbolistic
societies that respect their cultures each other.

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