Elite Koreans Leave Korea

The brain drain in Korea due to the outflow of skilled workers overseas is increasing every year.

According to the LG Economic Research Institute (LGERI), the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland(IMD) studied the level of brain drain in 50 leading countries in 2002 and the U.S., which scored an index of 8.3, showed the least outflow of its elite manpower. Iceland (8.1), Finland (8.1), Ireland (7.6) followed the lead. Korea, which scored 4.6, however, was ranked 40th out of 50 countries.

If the index of the brain drain is closer to zero, it indicates a higher number of skilled workers likely to leave their nation. The numerated index reflects the survey results that IMD conducted on university degree holders of each subject country by asking them whether or not they planned to stay in their country or to go overseas. Thus, the U.S. is the country with the least brain drain.

Korea did not suffer from brain drain much in 1992 with an index of 7.3, but the index dropped 2.7 points in 10 years. Japan also saw a drop in the index from 8.8 points in 1992 to 6.2 points in 2002.

“Between 1994 and 2002, Korea saw an average of 5.6 percent increased inflow of Korean American scholars, while Korean scholars leaving to the U.S. increasing an average of 11.3 percent. This indicates how serious Korea is suffering from the brain drain to overseas,” LG Economic Research Institute pointed out.

“Brain outflow causes a loss of highly skilled workers, and it also damages growth potential,” a researcher at the LGERI said, showing his concern.

Do-Young Kim nirvana1@donga.com