It is irreversible. Korea cannot go back to the time when it boasted of its racial homogeneity. This is not simply because we need foreign workers to make up for the workforce shortage caused by the low birthrate and fast aging of society.

But what we see around us and hear from experts and statisticians tells us that we Koreans are not yet as receptive to racial diversity as we should be.

A recent study released by the Minister of Gender Equality and Family verified the situation. The study, based on a survey of 4,000 people conducted last fall, was highlighted by the release of an index measuring the level of receptiveness to multiculturalism.

The latest index was tallied at 53.95 out of possible 100 points, which — although it was somewhat improved from 51.17 points in 2011 — is disappointing for a country in which the government began tackling the change in the racial composition in the country about 10 years ago.

The slow progress in the public perception of immigrants and foreign workers — to the degree that it may be called stagnant — should be a greater cause for concern than it normally would because the multicultural population is growing at a fast pace. 

Government statistics show that there are 820,000 members of multicultural families, including marriage immigrants, spouses and children. This is a 24 percent increase from 660,000 in 2011, and officials expect the number to exceed 1 million within four years. In total there are 1.47 million foreign residents in Korea, including immigrant workers and foreign nationals who are here illegally.

Obviously, Koreans’ perception of their multicultural neighbors is not catching up with the pace of expansion of the multicultural segment of society. It is indeed shameful that 3 out of every 10 Koreans did not want to have foreign workers and immigrants as neighbors. 

One of the fortunate things is that the younger the respondents, the more positive they were about multiculturalism: Adolescents scored 67.63 points, followed by those in their 20s and 30s with 57.50 and 56.75, respectively. People aged 60 or more were the least positive, with 48.77 points.

Also notable was that academic background, income level and occupations heavily affected the attitude toward ethnic minorities. Researchers said that things like competition for labor-intensive jobs may boost the negative image of immigrants among the Korean working class.

This calls on the government to evolve its policies and programs on multiculturalism in consideration of the different levels of receptiveness according to age, economic status and occupation.

Most of all, education programs intended to increase public awareness of the importance of accommodating multiculturalism should be strengthened. The ministry study’s finding that only 5.5 percent of the respondents participated in multicultural education programs shows that there is still too much work to do.