"South Korea may face the threat of terrorism if its ethnic minorities end up expressing their frustration over discrimination and scorn through acts of terrorism", according to the research paper which has just been published by academics at Seoul International University.
Officially Korea lacks major religious conflicts or – unless you talk to Japan – a history of invading foreign countries, so according to the report Korea is different from other nations where "immigrants from Muslim backgrounds" and "former colonies" have often committed acts of terrorism. However, the authors say that if the gap between people's expectations and satisfaction levels continues to grow there is a possibility that immigrants or their mixed-race children will commit terrorist crimes rather than venting their anger through drink and domestic violence as is more traditional in Korea.
As a countermeasure, the authors recommended enhancing discrimination in Korea further by spying on immigrants, mixed-race and other non-pure-blooded individuals through techniques such as telephone bugging. Such measures wouldn't be required for pure-blooded Koreans since "we are all one big happy family with no internal unhappiness, discrimination or scorn."
Indeed there is no history of domestic terrorism in Korea - with incidents such as the attack leading to the destruction of Seoul's historic gate 'Namdaemun' in 2008, which was started by a disgruntled Korean who felt discriminated against, rather than an immigrant, officially being labeled 'friendly fire'.
However, in a conflicting report on immigrants also released this week, 48 year-old Professor Kim from Pusan National University said his research showed that one of the most rapidly growing sources of perceived discrimination in the immigrant community is the increasing number of research papers labeling them as potential terrorists.
But the authors of the original report dismissed Professor Kim's findings. "You have to consider his relative youth and the fact he's from a minor university outside Seoul." they pointed out scornfully.
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