Low-skilled Cambodian workers are not concerned by “multicultural programs” in South Korea. In this context, they deal with this situation through the help of religious institutions, such as the Onnuri Presbyterian Church, by recreating a sort of ethnonational community. Labour migration permits Cambodian workers to weave different kinds of social links between them, with Koreans of the peninsula, and also with Koreans in Cambodia. This article examines the singular form of integration or exclusion of these migrant workers in South Korea, and tries to demonstrate its impact on their life upon their return home.
Hui-yeon Kim est maître de conférences à l’Inalco, département des études coréennes