Demographics of South Korea - Ethnic Groups

Ethnic Groups

South Korea is a relatively homogeneous society with absolute majority of the population of Korean ethnicity. However, with its emergence as an economic powerhouse, opportunities for foreign immigrants increased and in 2007 the number of foreign citizens resident in South Korea passed the million mark for the first time in history. 440,000 of them came from China, with more than half of them being ethnic Koreans of Chinese citizenship. The next largest group was from the United States with 117,000 residents or 12%, excluding the American troops stationed in the country. Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand and other countries followed.

Chinese immigration to Korea has had a long history, with an estimated 120,000 ethnic Chinese residents in South Korea around 1970. However, due to economic restrictions by Park Jung-hee's military dictatorship, the number fell to around 21,000. In a 10-year period starting in the late 1990s, the number of Chinese in Korea recovered and far surpassed its previous figure. Estimates vary, with some counting more than 1,000,000 Chinese citizens living in South Korea as permanent residents or illegal immigrants, including Joseonjok (조선족/朝鮮族, Chinese citizens of Korean descent) and Han Chinese. There is a large Chinese community in Seoul's southwestern area (Daerim/Namguro) and a smaller but established community in Seongnam. This community, known as Hwakyo (화교, 華僑) by the Koreans, distrusts ordinary Koreans and tend to avoid those unfamiliar to them.

There are migrant workers from Southeast Asia and increasingly from Central Asia (notably Uzbekistan, many of them ethnic Koreans from there, and Mongolia), and in the main cities, particularly Seoul, there is a growing number of foreigners related to business and education. The number of marriages between Koreans and foreigners has risen steadily in the past few years. In 2005, 14% of all marriages in South Korea were marriages to foreigners (about 26,000 marriages); most were Korean men marrying other Asians. However most of the foreign brides were Chinese citizens of Korean descent. Korean men in age brackets up to their 40s outnumber slightly younger Korean women by usually about 10-15%, both due to a high sex ratio and the drop in the birth rate since the 1960s, leading to a demand for foreign wives. Many Korean agencies encourage 'international' marriages to ethnic Koreans living in China, Han Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, and Thai women, adding a new degree of complexity to the issue of ethnicity. However that percentage has fallen steadily since 2005, with "international marriages" making up 10% of marriages in South Korea. However these marriages are usually short-term as the divorce rate has skyrocketed between Koreans and Southeast Asian women. Divorces between such pairings make up more than 40% of South Korea's total divorce rate. There have been reports of scam marriages between Korean men and Southeast Asian women, where Korean men are scammed into the mail-order bride industry. However this corrupted industry has yet to be banned as the Korean government has not responded to this problem. Cambodian government and the Fillipino government had banned their women to marry Korean men after the murdering of a Cambodian bride by her Korean husband. Foreign brides often face harsh and often violent treatment in Korea.

The number of expatriate English teachers hailing from English-speaking nations has increased from less than 1,000 in 1988 to over 20,000 since 2002.

There are also some 30,000+ United States military personnel and civilian employees throughout the country, an increasing number of whom (as of 2010) are also accompanied by family members.