Do You Want to Live in Korea?
World Ch. Schedule : THU 20:30 KST
Date : 2022-07-28
Do You Want to Live in Korea?
As of May, there were 2,012,862 foreigners living in Korea, growing 1.3% from a year earlier and matching the total population of Daegu, Korea’s third-largest city. According to the OECD, a country where the number of migrants, foreigners and naturalized citizens take up 5% of the entire population is categorized as being multicultural. The figure for Korea was reported at 4.3% in 2019, suggesting that it’s on the verge of becoming a multicultural nation.
Why are all these foreigners coming to Korea and is it a good place for them to live in? Surveys show that most of them are in the country for financial reasons, especially among those from Southeast Asia, as wages here are as much as 10 times higher than what they’re paid back home. However, life here is not without its struggles, especially when it comes to visa issues and perceptions of Korea being a homogeneous country.
However, with the Yoon Suk-yeol administration pushing for immigration policy reforms and a new government body that will solely handle immigration affairs, there is hope that life for foreign residents in Korea may gradually improve in the coming years.
Against this backdrop, we speak to foreign residents in Korea to get their personal experiences and perspectives on the issue, in this final episode of the Newsmakers.
Why are all these foreigners coming to Korea and is it a good place for them to live in? Surveys show that most of them are in the country for financial reasons, especially among those from Southeast Asia, as wages here are as much as 10 times higher than what they’re paid back home. However, life here is not without its struggles, especially when it comes to visa issues and perceptions of Korea being a homogeneous country.
However, with the Yoon Suk-yeol administration pushing for immigration policy reforms and a new government body that will solely handle immigration affairs, there is hope that life for foreign residents in Korea may gradually improve in the coming years.
Against this backdrop, we speak to foreign residents in Korea to get their personal experiences and perspectives on the issue, in this final episode of the Newsmakers.