Governing at a Distance or at Arm's Length: The Divergence of Labor Migration Policy in Taiwan and South Korea

遠端治理或就近治理：台灣與南韓移工政策的分歧

10.6683/TPSR.202012_24(2).0005

Mason M.S. Kim

labor migration ； guest-worker programs ； recruitment brokerage ； civil society ； labor unions ； 勞工移民 ； 客工制度 ； 招募仲介 ； 公民社會 ； 工會

台灣政治學刊

24卷2期（2020 / 12 / 01）

199 - 248

英文

Facing labor shortages and looming economic challenges, East Asian countries decided to open their labor markets and recruit low-skilled foreign workers. For example, Taiwan adopted a guest-worker program in 1992 that heavily involved private recruitment agencies as labor mediators, whereas Korea launched a temporary labor migration program in 2003 through government-to-government agreements. Despite their similar democratic experiences and developmental histories, why has Korea developed a government-managed guest-worker program while Taiwan has established a brokerage-driven program to control foreign workers? What are the driving factors behind the divergence of labor migration governance between Taiwan and Korea? To answer the question, this paper first compares key features of their foreign labor policy, including recruitment, admission, employment, and return of migrant workers, and then examines the main drivers behind the institutional divergence. This study argues that three factors have largely determined the divergent outcomes of labor migration policies: (1) the power balance between economic and social ministries in the government, (2) political pressures from civil society for migrants' rights, and (3) systematic participation of labor unions in social movements for labor migrants.

面對勞工短缺和經濟挑戰加重的問題，東亞國家紛紛決定開放勞工市場並招募低技術的外籍勞工。舉例而言，臺灣在1992年採用客工制度，廣泛仰賴私人招募機構作為勞務仲介，而南韓則在2003年啟動以政府之間協定為方式的臨時性移工專案。雖然兩國民主經歷和發展歷史有一定相似性，但是為什麼南韓發展出一個以政府主導的移工專案，而臺灣卻建立起一個以仲介為中心的移工政策呢？究竟是什麼因素造成了臺灣和南韓移工治理的差異呢？為了回答這個問題，本文首先比較了兩國外籍勞工政策的關鍵特點，包括招募、錄取、就業、返鄉，然後研究這些制度性差別背後的主要因素。本研究論證出三個決定勞工移民政策不同結果的主要因素：（1）政府中經濟和社會部門的權力平衡；（2）來自公民社會中倡議移工權益的政治壓力；以及（3）工會對移工社會運動的系統性參與。

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