Quick! Hide the women and children!
Yonhap reports the number of big, stinky foreigners has broken the million mark, including short term sojourners and illegal residents.
Yonhap said this indicates Korea is rapidly developing into a multicultural and multiracial society, but urgent measures must be taken regarding the 220,000 who are here illegally.
The Big 1 Million
According to the Justice Ministry’s Immigration Bureau, there were 1,000,254 foreigners residing in Korea as of Aug 24, a number equivalent to 2 percent of Korea’s citizen population. This was a 15 percent jump over July 2006, and a 158 percent jump over 1997.
Chinese, Americans and Vietnamese, Oh My!
By nationality, it breaks down thusly — China at 441,334 (including 266,764 ethnic Koreans), or 44%; followed by Americans (USA! USA!) at 117,938, or 12%; Vietnamese at 64,646 or 6%; Filipinos at 50,264 or 5%, and Thais at 42,792 or 4%. The five nationalities made up 70% of the grand total. Next came Japanese, Taiwanese and Indonesians.
If you look at the full list, I’m sure you’ll find Canadians on it somewhere.
Long-Term Residents, Industrial Trainees Top List
Of the 1,000,254 barbarians, 724,967 are registered as long-term residents (meaning they’ll stay 90 days or more). And of these, 404,051 are slave laborers industrial trainees, 104,749 are spouses of Koreans, and 47,479 are trying out for “Misuda” foreign students.
The number of long-term residents has been jumping dramatically, going from 40,519 in 1980 to 49,507 in 1990, 210,249 in 2000 and 510,509 in 2005. This year, long-term foreign residents made up 1.48% of Korea’s total population.
Some 93% of foreign laborers (377,373) were unskilled laborers.
And Now They Won’t Go Home
The number of foreigners immigrating to Korea for marriage tripled from 34,710 in 2002 to 104,749 this year. The number of permanent residents, meanwhile, more than doubled during the same period, going from 6,022 to 15,567.
Yonhap clears up its definitions — a “marriage immigrant” is, oddly enough, a resident foreigner who was married or is currently married to a Korean national, while permanent residence is granted to (drum roll, please) a) fat-cat foreigners who invest over US$2 million into the country or have lived here for over three years while investing US$500,000; b) doctorate holders in certain advanced industrial fields (like IT) who satisfy certain set conditions; c) foreigners who have performed meritorious deeds in the fields of science, education, culture and sports (I don’t think blogging counts); d) a foreign spouse, married to a Korean, who has resided here for over two years; e) long-term residents who have been here for over five years and satisfy certain set conditions.
No, I don’t know what those conditions are.
Sudogwon Ghetto
In case you wanted to drop by the ghetto, Korea’s foreigners are concentrated in the capital region. Some 30% live in Gyeonggi-do (read: Ansan), 28.5% in Seoul, 6% in Incheon, 5.8% in Gyeongsangnam-do (I don’t know if that figure includes Russian hookers in Busan), 4.6% in Gyeongsangbuk-do, 4.1% in Chungcheongnam-do and 2.8% in Chungcheongbuk-do.
The Justice Ministry, on the ball as always, is responding to the skyrocketing number of barbarians by expanding its comprehensive support service for foreigners (a.k.a. the Government for Foreigners, of G4F Portal), allowing foreigners to get information and make applications via the Internet, beginning from next March.
In June, the Bureau of Immigration set up in its Seoul office a Marriage Administration Call Center that provides immigration and residency services in seven different languages. The system will expand nationwide from next year.
Illegal Migrants Skyrocket
Illegal immigration, however, is a problem. Over 20% of Korea’s foreign residents — 225,273, to be more specific — are residing in the country illegally. This is a huge jump over 1997, when Korea had 148,048 illegal residents.
By nationality, Chinese make up the largest number of illegals at 101,984 (and of these, 37,573 are ethnic Koreans), followed by Filipinos at 14,749 and Vietnamese at 14,333. Next came Thais, Mongolians (finally, the Mongols are representin’) and Bangladeshis.
Since the beginning of the month, the Justice Ministry has been trying to crack down on illegal migrants, while encouraging illegal migrants to leave on their own by forgiving fines and making it easier for them to reenter the country at a later date.
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
“This was a 15 percent jump over July 2006,”
That’s a huge percentage increase over one year. What’s the reason for that, and where are they mostly coming from?
Good question.
Hell, I’m movin’ to Chungcheong-bukdo, to get way from all them foreign barbarians…
Yeah,
There are a lot of Russians in Pusan. What’s up with that?
Dear Wang,
Although my time in Korea (5 years total) was twenty years ago, isn’t Pusan the closest major port to what was the USSR?
And sailors being what they are (I was one, too), wouldn’t the Association of Far East Business Women have an outlet in Pusan?
Sailors, first, and now their companions: “traders”, aka Vladivostok thugs, and whores.
This is the result of having only ugly and despicable races around Korea, specially a cockroach nest next to us. It’s a misfortune for my country geographically speaking.
F*cking parasites. I f*cking doubt these ugly races has any maturity to understand or respect Korea’s people except to satiate their own selfishness.
I think fact that Korea is not as advanced as Japan makes a easier target for them to immigrate. It’s time to to do like Japan controlling the borders and tighten the immigration policy and send back all the illegals except ethnic Koreans.
There. Do you feel better now?
Not as long I kill them with my own hands, these subhumans.
Who needs a hug?
Are you “k”? No, thanks.
The Russian thugs I’ve met seem to be different from Moscow skinhead types. It’s weird but they almost feel more educated or genteel, perhaps a legacy of the intellectual exiles of Siberia? Most seem to lost, I pity the lot of them — poor souls.
KKKatz!
Heil, Koguryo/Korea!!!
Another weird race incident happened to me while I was in Seoul last year. I stayed a night at a relatively inexpensive hotel in Kangnam, forgot the name of it and in the elevator there was what appeared to be a Russian lady with a stroller that contained what was obviously a Eurasian baby. There was this Korean grandmother with a big smile on her face bend down to take a look at her baby. I didn’t sense any bad intent from the old lady’s side, she just seemed like a grandmother who wanted to look at a cute baby. However, the Russian lady looked visibly upset and quickly covered up her baby so the granny couldn’t look at it. Very odd.
The definition of foreigner sems to be very wide ranging. It seems the definition also includes children born in Korea, who have one parent who is not Korean! What happens if said child goes on to win a medal or golf tournament?
Also in regard to a recent article about land purchases by ‘Foreigners’, the definition includes Koreans who no longer permanently reside in Korea. (Traitors, who leave the motherland)
Also when trying to get a home loan from Citibank, their regulations (I have a copy), SPECIFICALLY state that they can only lend to those of the Korean race. My friend who has a Korean passport (though not born here), and has a Korean wife and ‘foreign’ child (born here) does not qualify!
Don’t forget, crimes! If a Korean commits a crime, and has also lived overseas for a long period, that person is also a Foreigner.
I see many Koreans who have had so much plastic surgery that they don’t look like Koreans, I wonder if the definition will extend to them.
Was watching a Korean cartoon the characters were wearing Hanbok, all had super big round eyes, some were even blue!
Strange very strange.
“Was watching a Korean cartoon the characters were wearing Hanbok, all had super big round eyes, some were even blue!
Strange very strange.”
That’s not very strange at all. You are familiar with Anime, right? That’s full of big eyed and blue eyed characters.
“I see many Koreans who have had so much plastic surgery that they don’t look like Koreans, I wonder if the definition will extend to them.”
Also, what is your definition about Korean? Slant eyes, white skin? There are a lot of varieties of Korean who didn’t make plastic surgery.
“This is the result of having only ugly and despicable races around Korea, specially a cockroach nest next to us. It’s a misfortune for my country geographically speaking.
F*cking parasites. I f*cking doubt these ugly races has any maturity to understand or respect Korea’s people except to satiate their own selfishness.”
You are an idiot.
Starting from downtown Incheon, there are apartment slums that extend all the way right up to Kari-Bong-Dong. It is a sea of human misery with a sizable Chinese Korean contingent. Korean faces that were not quite right with the other poor ass locals. Messed up orthodontics, weaker bone structure, heads too big in proportion to body mass and their body language meant they were not Korean Korean. It was also strange that the crowd subconsciously parted to allow me an easier avenue in which to walk, as if they could tell by looking out of the sides of their eyes that I was someone of an outside consequence. I know that they were better off than whatever centralized nation state they hailed from, but I still get choked up thinking about those miserable mole-like people in an unnoteworthy ghetto in a no consequence part of Korea’s urban landscape.
Many US citizens got their citizenship by birth. Not because their parents were born in the US, but because they were simply born on US soil.
I know whitey is up in arms about this, but many whiteys also got theirs by birth.
Whitey took a chunk of land from Mexico by a bloodier war than Iraq.
You could give California and Texas to Mexico and I think whitey will stop seeing illegal immigration from the south.
From my understanding, PeMex is owned by majority shareholders in Wall Street.
tsk tsk tsk.
It’s just something the US will have to deal with for ages.
Only to be solved when Mexico becomes comparable to the US in income, in all social levels. Mexicans themselves treat the Native American population much worser than the ones with more white blood.
Whitey made this problem. Deal with it.
austin:
You’re serious? Even a Korean passport holder can’t get a loan from Citibank unless he’s Korean race? How do they express that in their regs? I’m curious.
“You are an idiot.”
Don’t start flaming me. I don’t even have to mention your name, moron.
You’ve been banned, Katz.
I have to say, Katz, of all the trolls I’ve seen here in the four years I’ve run this blog, you are by far the biggest waste of carbon.
Herod, my Korean sucks, but my missus translated the regulation, and that’s what she said. A charming lady at CitiBank was kind enough to provide me with a photocopy of the regulation. Will try to post the regulation, currently reorganizing my office. You may wish to go into CitiBank and try yourself.
That would be totally cool. Give California back to Mexico. Roads slowly crumbling to dust. The Drogistas having a bigger border in which to smuggle their wares. All the rich folk, including Arnold and Maria cutting it for Nevada in the middle of the night. All the Mexicans now living in the state going, “Damn esse, now I gotta move to Arizona?”
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