Multicultural Students with Disabilities in South Korea: Current Status and Implications for Practice

South Korean schools are increasingly encountering students with disabilities from immigrant backgrounds. Difficulties experienced by these students have often been attributed to individual language ability or family background. In South Korea, students with disabilities from immigrant backgrounds are generally categorized as “multicultural students,” yet multicultural education and special education continue to operate through separate pathways. Consequently, processes linking evaluation to instruction and support are fragmented, leaving schools to rely heavily on individual judgment in the absence of clear guidance. This article shifts the focus to structural conditions within the South Korean education system that fail to adequately address cultural and linguistic diversity. Rather than reporting the effects of a specific policy, the article examines what remains disconnected in school practice and offers evaluation-focused questions and directions relevant for practitioners and administrators.