Report says multiethnic kids identify as Korean

A report released yesterday said seven out of 10 children from multiethnic families here consider themselves Korean.

In a study of 1,502 elementary school students by the National Youth Policy Institute, 73.4 percent, or 1,103 students, from multiethnic families who participated in the study answered that they are “100 percent Korean” when researchers asked their identity. The study said 21.5 percent of respondents, 323 students, said they are half-Korean and half-foreign and 3 percent, 45 students, considered themselves as foreign.

The research team of the institute said they also separately selected 618 students whose monthly household income is lower than 1.9 million won ($1,673) to compare the psychological development with Korean students with a similar household income level.

In this study, multiethnic students scored an average between 2.8 and 3.1 out of 4 points in four different subjects, including study activity, peer relations, relations with teachers and the ability to overcome stress. The institute said the score is about 0.8 to 1.3 points higher than Korean students.

The study also stated that the higher education degrees the mothers of multiethnic children have, the higher the scores in education and self-worth the children reported.

“The government should provide policies that can support multiethnic and Korean children together,” Yang Gye-min, a researcher from the National Youth Policy Institute, told the JoongAng Ilbo.

“As the children think they’re Korean, we should consider them as our neighbors, not as foreigners.”

By Lee Han-gil, Kwon Sang-soo [sakwon80@joongang.co.kr]