By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter

Koreans who left the country for a new life elsewhere have been returning in record numbers since 1997.

Most of them are first-generation immigrants who left Korea in the 1970s and '80s. Many such people want to spend their later years back in the land of their birth. Some younger returnees are also seeking better opportunities back at home.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said 4,301 Koreans who had immigrated elsewhere applied for permanent residence in Korea in 2009, a 14 percent increase from 3,763 in 2008. The 2009 total represents the largest number since 4,895 in 1997.

About 20 percent, the largest portion, said they want to spend their remaining days in their homeland. Others said they moved back in search of better job opportunities, or to receive medical treatment.

The ministry said most of those returning to Korea are first generation immigrants who went to the United States, Canada, South America or Australia.

About half, or 2,015 returning Koreans came from the U.S., with those from Canada, Japan and Argentina following.

An official of the Korean-American Federation of Los Angeles was quoted as saying that many Koreans who moved to the U.S. in the '70s are considering ``reverse immigration.''

``Some live in Korea while maintaining their green card or U.S citizenship,'' he was quoted as saying.

The worldwide financial slump also contributed to increasing reverse immigration, especially among those from the younger generations seeking opportunities in Korea.

In 2006, 556 people returned to Korea after acquiring jobs here ― the number increased to 732 in 2009.

``Reflecting the weak economic conditions in the U.S., competent young people are choosing to return to Korea,'' an official of the Korean American Association of Greater New York was quoted as saying by Yonhap News.

Reverse immigration was rare in the '70s but slowly increased after the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. It peaked in the mid-1990s with some 5,000 returning to Korea each year. This large number was followed by ``boom years'' when Koreans immigrated to richer countries. But after Korea hosted the 2002 World Cup successfully and the Korean economy was humming, the number returning began to increase.

The ministry says stability in society coupled with economic growth and democratization is drawing people back to Korea. ``The improved image of Korea, after holding international sports events such as the 1988 Seoul Olympics and 2002 World Cup, may have affected the increase of reverse immigration,'' a ministry official said.

He added that there are also a large number of Koreans living here with foreign permanent resident status or citizenship.

meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr