Conditional Inclusion and State‐Mediated Structural Injustice in Korea's Migration Regime

ABSTRACT This study examines how conditional inclusion operates through state‐mediated structural injustice in Korea's migration regime. Drawing on the concept of the conditionality structure of immigrant rights—encompassing both institutional and operational dimensions—the study investigates why the partial formal recognition of rights for labor migrants has not translated into substantive improvements in lived access. It argues that the problem lies not only in implementation gaps but also in the conditional design of immigration rules, administrative procedures and employer‐mediated mechanisms through which those rights are accessed. Based on qualitative data from expert and focus group interviews, the analysis shows that Korea's migration regime is formally inclusive yet functionally exclusionary, as access to labor market mobility, social entitlements and more secure residency remains contingent upon employer cooperation, administrative discretion and performance‐based requirements. These conditional arrangements produce patterned disadvantages that systematically constrain migrants' autonomy while preserving institutional priorities. Moreover, structural injustice is reproduced not only through policy design but also through migrants' internalization of differentiated treatment. The findings contribute to debates on immigrant rights, conditionality and the enduring influence of developmentalist and ethno‐cultural logics in Korea's welfare state.