Korean Voters’ Attitudes toward Refugee-Origin Candidates Running for Elected Office

Abstract

This study examines Korean voters’ attitudes toward refugee-origin candidates with Korean citizenship running for elected office. While prior research has focused on general acceptance of refugees and immigrants, this study approaches candidacy as a question of political rights. Drawing on integrated threat theory, it argues that perceived threats reduce support for refugee-origin candidates, while contact with refugees mitigates these effects, particularly for symbolic threat. Using data from the 2025 Korean Refugee Attitudes Survey, binary logistic regression models show that crime threat consistently lowers support across all offices, whereas economic threat matters only for National Assembly and local council races. Contact moderates symbolic threat only for high-level offices. Support increases as office authority declines, with the lowest support for presidential candidacy and the highest for local council races. The findings indicate that Korean voters draw differentiated boundaries of political membership for refugees across the electoral hierarchy.

BibTeX citation

@article{Kangetal:2026,
    Author = {Kang, Sinjae, Song Young Hoon, and Sanghoon Park},
    Journal = {Korean Journal of Legislative Studies (KJLS)},
    Number = {1},
    Pages = {},
    Title = {Korean Voters’ Attitudes toward Refugee-Origin Candidates Running for Elected Office},
    Volume = {32},
    Year = {2026}}