On November 16th and 17th, at Seoul National University’s Gwanak Campus, prominent domestic and foreign experts were invited to exchange various opinions on ways to build a caring society and a sustainable care economy from the perspectives of gender, transnational migration, and development. In particular, the event that took place on the 17th not only welcomed participants on site, but it was also broadcast online through YouTube, securing roughly 150 participants who were able to engage in in-depth discussions and debates both online and offline.

Conference participants shared the status of care in each of their respective countries and dived into national efforts and policies targeted to securing quality care labor. Looking at the care crisis and the reality of migrant care labor around the world across different standpoints, participants questioned which point of view would propel this issue into being fully recognized within policy discussions. They also discussed the desirability to systematize global migrant care labor in order to build a sustainable care society.

During this conference, the topic of Korea’s care crisis and response gathered the most interest from domestic and foreign participants, as the country currently faces a severe ultra-low fertility rate and a rapidly aging demography. In this regard, Hyuna Moon and Jiweon Jun, senior researchers at CTMS, presented the results of their respective research on the perception of care among young Korean generations and the demand for migrant care work from Korean families.

Leading care experts joined this conference including Ito Peng, Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at University of Toronto, Marina Durano, Adviser on Care Economy and Partnership Engagement at UNI Global Union, Elizabeth King, Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Emiko Ochiai, Professor of Sociology at Kyoto University and many other care specialists who participated as key speakers, presenters, and discussants to address the challenges of care economy and migrant care work.