Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
8 in 10 foreign residents satisfied with life in Korea: survey
By Yi Whan-woo
By Yi Whan-woo
Around eight in 10 foreigners in Korea say they are satisfied with life here, data showed on Wednesday.
In its 2022 survey aimed at analyzing the quality of life in Korea, Statistics Korea said 40.8 percent of the respondents said they were “extremely satisfied” with life in Korea while another 39.6 percent responded they were “a little satisfied.”
Meanwhile, nearly one out of every five foreign residents of Korea has experienced discrimination in the midst of an increase in the foreign population. The data showed that 19.7 percent of the 25,000 foreign residents responded that they had faced discrimination in the previous year.
The level of discrimination was “minor” in general, with 37.6 percent of the respondents saying they experienced discrimination at stores, restaurants and banks.
Another 34.1 percent said they experienced discrimination at workplaces while another 32.2 percent picked streets and neighborhoods.
Of those who faced discrimination, 58 percent cited their foreign nationality as the main cause, followed by their Korean language skills with 27.9 percent and their appearances with 8.3 percent.
Concerning difficulties settling in Korea, 43.4 percent mentioned the language barrier while 27.8 percent picked loneliness. They were able to choose more than one answer.
The number of foreign nationals staying here for three months or longer reached 1.75 million in 2022, up 6.2 percent or 102,379 from a year earlier.
They accordingly offset a steep fall in the country's total population, with the number of Korean nationals falling 0.3 percent or 148,000 year-on-year to 49.94 million in 2022.