This article is laughably wrong (probably a puff piece to entice Korean students to work in Japan). The truth is exactly the opposite: there are fewer Koreans in Japan every year (as measured by foreign residents in Japan -- this includes work and student visas). The fastest rising immigrants to Japan from 2015-2018 are in descending order[1]:
Vietnam
Cambodia
Uzbekistan
Myanmar
Sri Lanka
South Korea comes in dead last, having DECLINED by 10% during the same period.
The truth is that as soon as Korea became a developed country, having joined the OECD in the 90s, immigration to Japan slowed to a trickle, precisely for the historical reasons that you might suspect.
South Korean here. My anecdata: some of my friends went to Japan for advanced degrees. Most of them came back within a couple of years after their study.
10x or more people around me went to US. The majority of them are still in the country after a few years.
Such tendency was remarkable to me, given the difficulty of learning English and relative ease of learning Japanese by Koreans.
There is one thing I can't understand from the article: it says a low birth rate as a reason of an increase in migration. Why would a low birth rate lead to more migration? I can understand the unemployment rate as a reason, and SK surely has a serious problem of low birth rate.. but that's for new babies...
But Koreans are still required to learn Kanjis right? Even with many shared/loan words through history, learning several thousands characters still doesn't feel easy enough to me.
While in many countries, people start learning English when they are in elementary schools. Upon until getting out of college, that is some decent years spent on English alone.
While the language itself is significantly different, more reading and extension of vocabulary should the few pending items to master English from that point on.
> There is one thing I can't understand from the article: it says a low birth rate as a reason of an increase in migration. Why would a low birth rate lead to more migration?
Good question. My understanding is that (from the article)
The low birthrate is leading to severe labor shortages ... prompting the
country to welcome more foreign workers.
So foreign workers (e.g. from South-East Asia?) make it harder for Koreans
to find a job in SK? But it's all the same (severe labor shortages) in Japan,
if not worse.
> some of my friends went to Japan for advanced degrees. Most of them came back within a couple of years after their study.
10x or more people around me went to US. The majority of them are still in the country after a few years.
My thinking is that Japanese and Korean work culture is quite similar. So if you want to live in that culture, why not do it closer to your family?
However, if you get smitten by a more western lifestyle in the US or Europe, it will be very hard to return home.
The answer is, they need slaves. The foreign workers are suitable for slaves because they don't know the labor law well.
As the birth rate is decreasing, there is a shortage of young slaves. It's a simple supply and demand situation. If you want to hire a worker, you have to pay more because there is not enough supply that satisfy the demand.
I have no idea what the future Japan will look like, but for workers, it will be a good market until Japanese economy corrupt.
Younger people can think about their future too. Anyone should be free to seek better future for him/herself.
Aging society is a big issue.
When i was studing, alot of thought went into "my county has a lot of internal issues that doesnt seem to be solved anytime soon - mby its better to jump the ship before it sinks".
Read the story but they're very short on the data. cited a job fair in Nagoya which had 40 Koreans. Then a Korean job search firm that placed the most people to work in Japan out of any country. Is it just me or is the article short on enough evidence to make this a piece?
Both countries have low birthrates, but Japan is far enough along the labor shortage curve that unemployment has been essentially eradicated in Japan. From the friendly article:
According to Statistics Korea, the national statistics office, the unemployment rate last year for people aged between 15 and 29 was 9.5 percent, compared with 3.8 percent overall and 3.6 percent for Japanese 15 to 24.
Also, Japan has a vocal far-right fringe, but the average Japanese person has no qualm with Koreans and Korean TV, music, food etc is widely popular. There are over 500,000 Koreans living in Japan, many 2nd or 3rd generation, and plenty more naturalized Japanese of Korean descent. If anything, I'd suspect there's a lot more antipathy in Korea towards Japan than the other way around...
According to some sources (Bloomberg) South Korea is currently the most innovative country in the world, and having spent significant time there, I wholeheartedly agree.
Despite the mythos surrounding Japan espoused by some ill-informed westerners, while it is a beautiful country, there is no benefit in moving from Korea to Japan. Japan, while it's my current home, is well past its heyday.
This isn't to say it won't return, but the current climate speaks otherwise.
“They have experienced military service and are disciplined,” said an official at a manufacturer in Aichi Prefecture. “They are good to work with, because they respect their superiors and are diligent.”
[+] [-] awl130|6 years ago|reply
Vietnam Cambodia Uzbekistan Myanmar Sri Lanka
South Korea comes in dead last, having DECLINED by 10% during the same period.
The truth is that as soon as Korea became a developed country, having joined the OECD in the 90s, immigration to Japan slowed to a trickle, precisely for the historical reasons that you might suspect.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Japan#Foreign_...
[+] [-] rchaud|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nemonemo|6 years ago|reply
10x or more people around me went to US. The majority of them are still in the country after a few years.
Such tendency was remarkable to me, given the difficulty of learning English and relative ease of learning Japanese by Koreans.
There is one thing I can't understand from the article: it says a low birth rate as a reason of an increase in migration. Why would a low birth rate lead to more migration? I can understand the unemployment rate as a reason, and SK surely has a serious problem of low birth rate.. but that's for new babies...
[+] [-] tanilama|6 years ago|reply
While in many countries, people start learning English when they are in elementary schools. Upon until getting out of college, that is some decent years spent on English alone.
While the language itself is significantly different, more reading and extension of vocabulary should the few pending items to master English from that point on.
[+] [-] umanwizard|6 years ago|reply
This surprises me a bit (I believe you; I am just surprised.)
Why do Koreans think learning Japanese is easier than learning English?
[+] [-] senozhatsky|6 years ago|reply
Good question. My understanding is that (from the article)
So foreign workers (e.g. from South-East Asia?) make it harder for Koreans to find a job in SK? But it's all the same (severe labor shortages) in Japan, if not worse.[+] [-] wodenokoto|6 years ago|reply
My thinking is that Japanese and Korean work culture is quite similar. So if you want to live in that culture, why not do it closer to your family?
However, if you get smitten by a more western lifestyle in the US or Europe, it will be very hard to return home.
[+] [-] ezoe|6 years ago|reply
As the birth rate is decreasing, there is a shortage of young slaves. It's a simple supply and demand situation. If you want to hire a worker, you have to pay more because there is not enough supply that satisfy the demand.
I have no idea what the future Japan will look like, but for workers, it will be a good market until Japanese economy corrupt.
[+] [-] pojzon|6 years ago|reply
Aging society is a big issue.
When i was studing, alot of thought went into "my county has a lot of internal issues that doesnt seem to be solved anytime soon - mby its better to jump the ship before it sinks".
[+] [-] theredbox|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] winningcontinue|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thaumasiotes|6 years ago|reply
And Japan is infamous for its incredibly negative attitude towards Koreans...
[+] [-] jpatokal|6 years ago|reply
According to Statistics Korea, the national statistics office, the unemployment rate last year for people aged between 15 and 29 was 9.5 percent, compared with 3.8 percent overall and 3.6 percent for Japanese 15 to 24.
Also, Japan has a vocal far-right fringe, but the average Japanese person has no qualm with Koreans and Korean TV, music, food etc is widely popular. There are over 500,000 Koreans living in Japan, many 2nd or 3rd generation, and plenty more naturalized Japanese of Korean descent. If anything, I'd suspect there's a lot more antipathy in Korea towards Japan than the other way around...
[+] [-] baolongtrann|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] user982|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] distantaidenn|6 years ago|reply
Despite the mythos surrounding Japan espoused by some ill-informed westerners, while it is a beautiful country, there is no benefit in moving from Korea to Japan. Japan, while it's my current home, is well past its heyday.
This isn't to say it won't return, but the current climate speaks otherwise.
This is a pure fluff piece.
[+] [-] hardmaru|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] GuiA|6 years ago|reply