By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter

A growing number of foreigners believe overall prices in Seoul are expensive. A Seoul Metropolitan Government survey showed that 73 percent of foreigners living in Seoul think prices are high, a sharp gain from 47 percent the previous year.

By category, 66 percent said housing costs were expensive, according to the survey of 1,000 expatriates last October.

As of the end of 2008, 255,207 non-Koreans are living in Seoul, compared with 258,896 three months earlier. Ninety percent of foreigners are from Asia, with Chinese accounting for 76 percent.

They replied they spend an average 28 percent of their income for the education of their children here. Forty-five percent of foreigners living with their children thought living in Seoul was good for their education, a 10 percent increase from the previous year.

Overall satisfaction with living conditions has risen. The residential and cultural environment, and safety earned high satisfaction levels. But the economic environment, foreign language signs at facilities and the level of foreign language use in administrative services were low.

The most source of information gathering for non-Koreans was the Internet, with 42.6 percent. About 27 percent said it was difficult to obtain information because of the language barrier and information inaccuracy.

meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr