The Role of Immigration as South Korea Navigates Demographic Decline

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CHAPTERS 

[00:02:23]: How South Korea transformed from an emigration to an immigration country 

[00:04:57]: How government policy is shifting toward settlement and longer stays 

[00:07:03]: How Korea is competing in the global race for talent 

[00:08:37]: What friction points migrants face—wages, housing, and language 

[00:10:48]: How Korean pop culture is becoming a migration pull factor 

[00:12:38]: How the public views immigration and how integration is working 

[00:14:41]: What the next 10 to 20 years could look like for Korea's immigrant society 

TRANSCRIPT 

[00:00:02.22] 

Hi, welcome to World of Migration, a podcast from the Migration Policy Institute that delves into interesting global developments on immigration, immigrant integration and humanitarian protection. My name is Lawrence Huang. I'm a policy analyst with MPI's International Program, and I'm your host today. South Korea is at a demographic crossroads. With the world's lowest fertility rate, just 0.72 births per woman, and one of the most rapidly aging populations globally, the country will need to rely increasingly on immigration to address its quickly shrinking workforce. Korea's journey to becoming an immigration country is a relatively new phenomenon. It has around 2.3 million foreign residents, or 4.4% of the country's overall population. That immigrant population has grown rapidly, although from a very small base. In 1998, it was just 0.3%. By comparison, the average OECD, or developed country is 15% foreign born today. This rapid transformation has created complex policy challenges. How does South Korea attract enough migrants with the right skills and qualifications to meet near term labor market needs?

[00:01:20.20] 

How much can immigration help address long term demographic challenges in a shrinking workforce? And what problems can immigration not solve? And how can a society that has long seen itself as ethnically homogenous navigate this transition to an ethnically diverse society without losing public support for immigration? To help us understand these questions, I'm joined today by Juyoung Jang, Senior Policy Researcher and Chief of the Policy Research Department at the Migration Research and Training Center. She's a key advisor to the South Korean government on all things skilled migration, ethical recruitment, demographics, and integration. Juyoung, thanks so much for being here today.

[00:02:00.17] 

Lawrence, thank you so much for inviting me.

[00:02:03.06] 

Great. So let's start with the big picture. South Korea has transformed remarkably quickly from an emigration country to an immigration destination. And obviously much of this has been driven by the demographic cliff the country is experiencing. So can you give a sense for our listeners about what the country is experiencing demographically?

[00:02:23.06] 

Sure. South Korea's demographic situation is often described as a cliff, and that's fair. In 2000, the fertility rate was about 1.5 children per woman. But recently it's been in the mid 0.7 range. That is far below the replacement level of around 2.1. This has been a long term trend since fertility fell below replacement rate in the mid-1980s. Since around 2020, the total population had started to decline. And projections suggest Korea could lose around 30% of its population over the next 50 years. If this trend continues, that means fewer workers and more pressure on local communities. And that is why immigration is now discussed Much more seriously in Korea, including through plans for a population strategy committee under this Lee Jae Myung administration, where migration is expected to be part of the agenda.

[00:03:31.13] 

Wow. So losing 30% of your population in the next 50 years, that's stark. So if immigration is part of the story, how is immigration currently changing in Korea? Who are these immigrants and how are they coming?

[00:03:48.03] 

Let me start from the history of immigration in Korea. So immigration in Korea took off in the early 1990s as rapid growth created labor shortages in Korea. At the same time, rural to urban migration also contributed to marriage migration from abroad. As ties with the Chinese government expanded, ethnic Koreans from China arrived in large numbers. And later it wasn't enough, so the recruitment widened to Southeast Asia. Today, the largest group is still ethnic Koreans, followed by manual labor migrants. But marriage migrants are under 10%. Still, it remains very important group since they are part of Korean families. And international students have also become a major channel in Korea. So with the population decline is now a national concern. Immigration is more accepted in principle by the public, though experiences still vary widely by region.

[00:04:57.11] 

Great. And what's the immigration policy landscape in Korea? How is the government trying to attract immigrants and how has that policy landscape changed?

[00:05:08.19] 

Korea's immigration policy has been shifting in recent years. I can say so. For a long time, outside of marriage migration, the focus was circular labor migration. So workers came for a fixed period and then they returned home. But as population decline deepens and employers, they also want a more stable workforce, policy is gradually moving toward more settlement pathways. This is really visible in local governments because they are losing population very fast. They've asked for more flexibility to attract and retain migrants. And as a response, the central government has started some pilot region-focused measures. Another recent key change is international students. With universities under pressure from shrinking youth cohorts, policies increasingly encourage students to stay after graduation by smoothing transitions into work and longer term residence. Migrants are also generally protected by the minimum wage. And policies are expanding more predictable stays. And in some cases, even there is more room for family accompaniment or reunification.

[00:06:34.11] 

That's so interesting because Korea is very much going in the opposite direction of many, many destination countries who are trying to shrink pathways to settlement or shrink post student, post study work permits. So I think it's a really important example. At the same time this labor migration, the Korean government's having to deal with what we call a global race for talent. So can you tell us a bit about their efforts to attract and woo highly skilled workers?

[00:07:03.16] 

Sure. Korea is pursuing two tracks at once. One is attracting highly skilled talent and stabilizing its essential workforce through labor migration. On the high skilled side, the Korean government is getting more proactive. In sectors like AI and biotech, the government offers more supportive visa options, easier spousal work permission and practical settlement support. It's also trying to retain top Masters and PhD graduates trained in Korean universities through smoother long term residence pathways. But the overall numbers are still relatively small in Korea. At the same time, Korea relies on a few hundred thousand manual and lower skilled migrant workers. Policies are expanding pathways for more experienced workers to be recognized as semi skilled workers. So the government allowed them to stay longer and sometimes bring their family members into Korea, especially in the populating regions.

[00:08:10.15] 

That's really interesting. So it's not just the most elite AI researchers. It's really expanding the pathways across the entire skill spectrum.

[00:08:19.02] 

Right, right, right.

[00:08:22.02] 

So the government's making all of these, these reforms and these expanded pathways tell us a bit about the friction points. What are the challenges that migrants are facing or that the government's facing to calibrate and design this labor migration system?

[00:08:37.19] 

Well, unfortunately, definitely there are a few major friction points. First is income versus living costs. Migrant workers are generally covered by the minimum wage like other Korean colleagues, but many jobs are in low wage sectors, so their earnings can still be modest. While housing and daily costs in Korea are pretty much high. Housing is a particularly serious issue in some workplaces, especially in rural and fishing communities. The living conditions there can remain poor despite ongoing improvement efforts. Second is their language access. Korean is really difficult to learn. And while language training is widely seen as the important factor for safety and daily life, many migrant workers, they have night or weekend shifts and long work hours. So it's very hard for them to attend fixed time government classes, although they are very low cost. Finally, there are some social acceptance gaps. Immigration is really visible than before. But some Koreans, they still feel somewhat unfamiliar with migrants. And cultural openness in Korea hasn't fully caught up with policy changes and the demographic changes in general.

[00:10:12.07] 

Well, let's come back to the social inclusion piece. I want to ask you a bit about language and culture because I can't imagine how difficult it must be for migrants to come to Korea and have to learn the language, which is a complicated language to learn. One thing that I know the government's been looking into has been trying to export its culture in order to become sort of a global cultural powerhouse with the idea that this might make the country a more attractive destination and might make people learn Korean and want to come to Korea. Can you tell us a bit about that and how that's working.

[00:10:48.16] 

Well, yes, up to this point, I can say it does make Korea more attractive. So Korean cultural exports first spread widely through TV dramas in East Asian and Southeast Asian countries, and now through KPop. And global interest is clearly really high. I mean, all those KPop Demon Hunters and some others. So in practice, we can hear this from people themselves, that some international students and younger migrant workers. They say that interest in Korean culture was one main reason they chose Korea to come. So Korean culture as a real pull factor, it helps put Korea on people's radar and makes the idea of living in Korea feel more familiar and appealing to foreign residents. But in my opinion, culture alone usually doesn't really decide long term settlement for younger people. They could choose to come to Korea involved. For them to want to stay in Korea for a long time, I think their everyday experience, like work, housing, social life and feeling welcomed, that has to be really attractive too. So if these conditions improve, I think cultural interest is more likely to translate into long term residency in Korea.

[00:12:20.03] 

Yeah, I think we could have a whole other podcast on KPop Demon Hunters. But I want to talk to you a bit about the welcome bit. What happens when immigrants arrive? How are they being integrated? How does the public in South Korea feel about the rising immigration levels?

[00:12:38.14] 

So the Korean immigration policy has advanced a lot in recent years. And the Korean government has also built a fairly structured integration system, especially for Korean languages. What we call national social integration programs. It offers Korean language and culture classes, and there's also an early adaptation program that introduces newcomers to Korean daily life. So far, the policy focus has mostly been on helping migrants adjust, let them learn Korean, understand local norms, and navigate Korean society. But nowadays there is a growing recognition that integration should be two-way. Like we always say, more people emphasize that Koreans also need to become more familiar with immigrant communities and more open to cultural exchanges with immigrants, not just to let them know Korean culture and public attitudes  are gradually moving in that direction, I can say. In a 2024 government survey, over 70% said promoting immigrant integration is a long term investment. And only about 18% said they feel uncomfortable having immigrants as their colleagues. So it really suggests acceptance is improving. But still it varies by age and region of residence.

[00:14:13.22] 

70% is actually quite high, surprisingly high. Would love to talk to you more at another day about how we got there and how do you get that to 100, but one last question for you then. Looking ahead, how do you think immigration and integration in Korea, how will they fare over the next 10, 20 years? What are the biggest policy issues you think the government needs to be prioritizing?

[00:14:41.14] 

Looking ahead 10 to 20 years, I think Korea's immigration story will be shaped less by new arrivals and more by people who are already growing up in Korea. The population of children and youth with immigrant backgrounds who are born in Korea or arrive in younger ages, they are increasing in the next couple of decades. Many of them will become a meaningful part of Korea's working age population. And at the same time, more Koreans will have grown up alongside immigrant classmates and co workers, which can really raise social acceptance through everyday familiarity, I think. But the outcome isn't automatic. The key condition is a fair and equal environment which should be really settled, especially at schools and at the labor market. This sort of equality and equity really needs to be improved in Korea. So if discrimination and barriers persist, integration will stall and Korea will look less attractive to future migrants as well. So the biggest priority is treating long term residents and career raised immigrant background youth as full members of society. We need to offer them real equality in education and let them smoothly transit into good jobs and need to put more stronger efforts to prevent discrimination in Korea.

[00:16:19.03] 

Thank you, Juyoung. I think one thing I'm taking away just from that is you didn't just say more immigrants, right? Like we talk about the demographic cliff in Korea and the need to be attracting immigrants, but inclusion taking this long term view towards settlement and including migrants into society is just as important. Well, Juyoung, thank you so much for taking the time today and for being with us.

[00:16:46.14] 

Well, it was really my pleasure to tell the story in Korea to you.

[00:16:51.23] 

That was Juyoung Jang, senior policy researcher at the Migration Research and Training center in Korea. South Korea is on the forefront. It's facing the harshest demographic cliff in the world, and it's dealing with rapid social change and relying on migration as part of its solution to economic and demographic issues like it never has before. But as we at MPI always say, and as Juyong also said, migration isn't a silver bullet to demographic challenges. It's not just about attracting enough people to feel labor market needs. It's just as important to think about the issues like social cohesion and public support and attitudes towards immigration, to think about skills and productivity and economic growth and also what happens when migrants themselves age and retire and end up relying on Social Security. I'm really intrigued to watch the South Korean example. Over the next five to 10 years, the government will need to rapidly experiment with its migration policy. And I think of it as sort of speed running the immigration lessons that the Western world has spent decades working through. And so the question is, will it work? And we'll all have to wait and see.

[00:18:08.07] 

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of World of Migration. If you enjoyed this conversation, please check out the other episodes. You can find World of Migration wherever you get your podcasts, and while you're there, please leave us a review. You can find all episodes for this and other MPI podcasts at MPI's website, migrationpolicy.org/podcasts this episode of World of Migration was produced by Daniella Espacio, with assistance from Lisa Dixon and editorial input from Michelle Mittelstadt. Our theme music is called Bright Idea by Geographer. I'm Lawrence Huang. Thank you again for listening and see you next time.