Of the 1.75 million foreigners living in South Korea in 2022, two out of 10 faced discrimination at shops, restaurants, banks, and workplaces, according to a survey by Statistics Korea.
Statistics Korea’s Statistics Research Institute released the results of its analysis on “Foreign Residents’ Lives in Korea” on Sept. 6.
The results were based on the Survey on Immigrant Stay and Employment jointly conducted by Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Justice, which aims to provide basic data for making policies on the management of foreigners’ and naturalized persons’ stays and their social integration in Korea.
In detail, the report covers foreigners’ difficulties living in Korea, leisure activities, perceptions of discrimination against them, and satisfaction with their lives in Korea. The most difficult aspects of living in Korea for foreigners were language problems and loneliness. The two were followed by difficulties with Korean lifestyles and food.
Foreigners picked watching TV and relaxation activities (sleeping, saunas, etc.) as their most popular leisure activities. Compared to female foreigners, male foreigners were more likely to engage in relaxation activities, computer games, and internet surfing, while female foreigners were more likely to engage in watching TV and hobbies and self-development activities.
In the past year, 19.7 percent of the foreign residents reported experiencing discrimination. Among the places or services they use, they felt discrimination in shops, restaurants, banks, and workplaces, but not in schools, colleges and universities, with landlords, at real estate agencies, or public institutions.
Foreigners are generally satisfied with their lives in Korea irrespective of gender. The overall satisfaction rate stood at 80.4 percent including those who were very satisfied (40.8 percent) and those who were somewhat satisfied (39.6 percent).
According to Korea’s 2022 Population and Housing Census, the number of Koreans excluding foreigners hit 49.94 million below the 50 million mark. Meanwhile, the foreign population is on a steady rise in Korea, which fuels demand for statistics for foreign population forecasts and policy development for foreigners in Korea.