What is immigration and refugee policy for?
It is not merely about control or regulation.
Nor is it simply a system to restrict the movement of people and maintain order.
At its core, it is a means to reduce distrust and misfortune,
and to build a foundation that enables each individual to live a better life.
Yet in reality, institutions often generate distrust.
Distrust breeds further distrust,
and as a result, misfortune is reproduced.
Why does this happen?
At the root of this problem lies a fundamental issue:
the absence of a proper design of trust.
Trust does not arise naturally.
It must be designed as a system and accumulated through practice
before it can take root in society.
In the modern world, this trust is supported by two layers.
The first is institutional trust, ensured by the legislative and executive branches.
Transparency, consistency, and predictability—
only when these are secured can people trust the system.
The second is operational trust, realized through technology.
Simplified procedures, visible information, and support for decision-making processes—
these form the foundation that enables institutions to function in real society.
Institutions alone cannot deliver trust.
Technology alone cannot create it.
Only when the two overlap
does trust truly take root in society.
The Balanced Coexistence Model presented in this book
is a redesign of immigration and refugee policy centered on this concept of trust.
It does not fix opposing values in place—
such as national interest and individual dignity,
security and freedom,
acceptance and integration—
but seeks to balance them within institutional design
and guide them toward coexistence.
And this model does not remain at the level of theory.
Through the Foreign Resident RegTech Demonstration Series,
I am also working to build the technological foundations
that allow these systems to function in practice.
Banking, insurance, housing, employment—
embedding immigration procedures into social infrastructure
and eliminating the disconnection between systems and daily life.
This is an attempt to transform
“trust as an institution”
into “trust that functions within society.”
Theory and implementation must not be separated.
Implementation without theory loses direction.
Theory without implementation never reaches reality.
This book moves back and forth between the two,
presenting new possibilities for immigration and refugee policy.
To design trust.
To implement trust.
Beyond that lies a society
where distrust and misfortune are reduced,
and where more people can live with security and dignity.
*This post was written as a prologue to the table of contents in the Balanced Coexistence Model.