{"id":7134,"date":"2021-06-29T04:14:02","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T09:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/korean\/?p=7134"},"modified":"2021-06-29T23:04:48","modified_gmt":"2021-06-30T04:04:48","slug":"our-new-friends-in-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/korean\/our-new-friends-in-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"Foreign Residents in Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2021, over 51 million people are living in South Korea. Over 2 million are <\/span>\uc678\uad6d\uc778 (wei-gook-in:<\/b> foreigners). Among them, over 1 million live in the capital city, Seoul.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image by Seoulinspired on Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n

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When I was young, I grew up in a town where I didn\u2019t see many foreigners. Although I know that there always have been foreigners in Korea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After The Korean War, there have been a few big groups of foreign communities, who have been living in Korea for a long time. <\/span>\ud55c\uad6d\uacc4 \uc911\uad6d\uc778 (han–gook-gye-joong-gook-in<\/b>: Chinese in Korea) and <\/span>\uc8fc\ud55c\ubbf8\uad70 (joo-han-mi-goon<\/b>: <\/span>United States Forces Korea, USFK<\/span>) are typical foreigner groups I would remember from my childhood. They usually have been living in certain areas throughout Korea. The foreigner <\/span>\ubc00\uc9d1\uc9c0\uc5ed (mil-jib-ji-yeok<\/b>: densely populated area) include Incheon, <\/span>Seorae Village, Yongsan, Myeong-Dong<\/span> or <\/span>Itaewon, etc,.<\/span><\/p>\n

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After the 1990s, there has been a huge influx of <\/span>\uc678\uad6d\uc778 \ub178\ub3d9\uc790 (wei-gook-in-noh-dong-jah<\/b>: foreign workers) as the Korean economy has been gotten bigger.\u00a0 As <\/span>\ub2e4\ubb38\ud654\uac00\uc815 (dah-moon-hwa-gah-jeong<\/b>: a multicultural family) become more common in Korea, the numbers of <\/span>\uacb0\ud63c\uc774\ubbfc\uc790 (gyeol-hon-ee-min-jah:<\/b> marriage-based immigrant) have been increasing as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

I had a childhood friend who was a Taiwanese. She went to a different school than mine, but her house was closer than any of my school friends\u2019 houses. We became close. One day, she told me that her friends at school were all Taiwanese or Chinese nationalities. I was surprised when she told me that, because I was too young to understand the fact. She spoke a different language to her parents, but she spoke really good Korean. I would not know that she was a Taiwanese if she didn\u2019t tell me.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image by Free-Photos on Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n

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When I was in middle school, I had a classmate who was <\/span>\uc7ac\ubbf8\uad50\ud3ec (jae-mi-gyo-poh<\/b>: Koreans residing in America). She said that she was born in Texas, but her family came back to Korea.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From my limited experiences, most \uc7ac\ubbf8\uad50\ud3ec or <\/span>\uc7ac\uc77c\uad50\ud3ec (jae-il-gyo-poh<\/b>: Koreans residing in Japan) I had met before I left Korea <\/span>didn\u2019t speak good Korean. I admit that I might have a stereotype of \uad50\ud3ec, which I assumed that they might\u2019ve not spoken Korean.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mass media, unfortunately, had been creating a stereotype of <\/span>\uc7ac\uc678\uad50\ud3ec (jae-wei-gyo-poh<\/b>: Koreans residing overseas) by reinforcing this point as well. However, I was wrong. I see more non-natives and \uad50\ud3ec who speak excellent Korean. In fact, there are many non-natives who actually speak good Korean. There are several Korean TV talk shows that have only foreign guests, and they share their perspectives on Korean life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image by niekverlaan on Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n

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I have been noticing more foreigners in Korea over the last several years of visiting home as well. Foreigners I see, nowadays, seem to be everywhere. They are in <\/span>\ub3d9\ub124 (dong-nae<\/b>: neighborhoods) where I wouldn\u2019t normally think to find them. They are on the streets, in cafes, in the subway, even on the local buses. When I see a handful of foreigners on a <\/span>\ub9c8\uc744\ubc84\uc2a4 (mah-eul-bus<\/b>: a local bus) in rush hour, I\u00a0 know that there are many foreigners, who actually living in Seoul, not just visiting the city.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I personally welcome these changes in Korea because I believe various cultures can enhance the depth of Korean culture and history. From a history textbook, I learned that Korea was a <\/span>\ub2e8\uc77c\ubbfc\uc871 (dahn-il-min-jok<\/b>: mono-ethnicity) country, but I see that Korea is changing. I can only wish that the changes would bring good things into Korea. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

In 2021, over 51 million people are living in South Korea. Over 2 million are \uc678\uad6d\uc778 (wei-gook-in: foreigners). Among them, over 1 million live in the capital city, Seoul.\u00a0     When I was young, I grew up in a town where I didn\u2019t see many foreigners. Although I know that there always have been…<\/p>\n

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