In this paper, we interrogate the current state of multiculturalism and multicultural education in South Korea and offer a possible theoretical framework that is lacking in the field of multicultural education. We provide three principles of multicultural understanding grounded in Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics to inform multiculturalism in South Korea and beyond. Based on these principles, we propose that multiculturalism be understood and educated as a way of being, that is, as an ontological multiculturalism, which contributes to a deeper understanding of what it means to be multicultural citizens in the global age.