Survey: Korean perception of migrant workers gets worse

SEOUL: South Koreans have become more negative towards migrant workers compared to four years ago, amid the prolonged economic downturn, a poll shows.

According to the Overseas Koreans Foundation survey of 820 people conducted in July and August, 61.1% of the respondents from the country’s seven largest cities find it hard to accept foreign workers as members of Korean society.

The figure is up 3.6 percentage points from a 2013 survey.

Some 39% of those surveyed said they ­recognise foreign workers as members of society, down 3.6 percentage points from four years ago, according to the poll.

The term “foreign workers” used in the poll refers to foreigners who are allowed to work in the country for three years under a low-skilled work permit system.

There are about 260,000 such workers under the scheme out of 1.27 million foreigners living in the country as of May last year, according to Statistics Korea.

About 57% of respondents said they were not concerned about foreign workers staying in the country for the long term, while 13.4% were against it.

Some 29% said it depends on the workers’ country of origin.

Asked whether South Koreans discriminate against foreigners or foreign culture, 57.1% agreed, while 9.5% disagreed.

As to the idea of a homogenous society, South Koreans appear to be more open-­minded than before.

Asked if the growing presence of foreigners would harm the purity of the Korean race, only 27.6% said yes, down from 41% in 2013. Some 42% said no, up from 31.8%.

On international marriages, 34.3% of the surveyed singles said they were willing to marry foreigners, while 65.7% answered ­negatively.

As marriage partners, the respondents favoured those who came from North America the most, followed by Europe, Japan, the former Soviet Union, China and Oceania, and Latin America.

Those from the Middle East, Asia and Africa were the least popular.

“I think the negative perception of foreigners is growing due to a prolonged economic slump,” said Lee Sung-joon, a senior member of GRI Research in charge of the poll, adding that it was an obstacle to Korean society seeking to turn itself into a multicultural society. — The Korea Herald / Asia News Network