Over 100,000 Korean Youths Went Overseas in 2006

With the boom of youth study abroad and language training programs, the number of youths who have left Korea has been increasing recently.

In addition, the number of Chinese residents in Korea, including Korean-Chinese, grew by 40 percent last year compared to 2005.

According to 2006 international population movement statistics issued by the Korean National Statistical Office (KNSO) yesterday, the number of citizens under 19 who are abroad is 100,691, which is the highest figure since the KNSO started collecting data in 2003.

Specifically, the number of those under 9 is 40,611, which is a 13.2-percent increase from year-ago`s 35,876, and the number of those aged from 10 to 19 is 60,080, which is a 17.9-percent increase from year-ago`s 50,978.

The number of foreigners who are staying in Korea more than three months in 2006 increased to 314,677, a rise of 18.2 percent compared to 266,280 in 2005. According to nationalities, 163,441 Chinese, 20,150 Vietnamese, 19,411 Americans, 17,852 Filipinos, and 15,809 Thais entered Korea last year. In particular, the number of Chinese, including 39,791 Korean-Chinese, increased by 37.0 percent.

Categorized by purpose of entrance, 84,367 foreigners said that they came to Korea to visit their relatives. Compared to 2005 when 51,304 foreigners citied the same reason as their entrance purpose, the number has increased by 64.4 percent.

The group contributing most to this increase is Korean-Chinese because it became much easier for them to find a way to earn money in Korea thanks to the passage of a revised bill for foreign worker employment that allows foreigners to work here even if they entered with a visiting visa.

Except for this purpose, 43,991 are here for industrial training, 40,382 are here for tourism, treatments, and passage to other countries, and 28,694 are here to perform unskilled labor.

higgledy@donga.com