page_title: Immigration to South Korea
section_title: Migrant laborers
hierarchical_section_title: Immigration to South Korea / History / Issues with current immigrant policies / Migrant laborers
caption_attribution_description: English: South Korea GDP (PPP) evolution from 1911 to 2008 in millions of 1990 International dollars. Source: Angus Maddison. South Korean flag from File:Flag of South Korea.svg.
context_page_description: Immigration to South Korea is low due to restrictive immigration policies resulting from strong opposition to immigrants from the general public. However, in recent years the influx of immigrants into South Korea has been on the rise, with foreign residents accounting for 4.9% of the total population in 2019. According to the United Nations, in 2019 foreign born residents represented 2.3% of the total population, which is below the world average of 3.5%.
context_section_description: South Korea used to be a net sender of immigrants until 2007, sending farmers, miners, nurses, and workers to the United States, Germany, and the Middle East. The ethnic Korean diaspora numbers 7.49 million as of 2019, including 2.54 million in the United States and 2.46 million in China.
  South Korea experienced government-initiated rapid economic growth from the 1960s on, which has been called the "Miracle on the Han River". Until the end of 1980s, South Korea was able to sustain its growth without foreign laborers because of its abundant young population and low wages. But starting from the 1990s, South Korea's plummeting birth rate and growing cost of labor caused labor shortages especially in the so-called "3D jobs" (for "dirty, dangerous, and difficult"), which translated into demand for foreign labor.
  Economic development and urbanization led many people to leave rural areas and move to cites. However, according to traditional Confucian norms which a lot of older South Koreans still adhere to, the eldest son must remain with his parents. Chronic shortages of women arose in rural areas, and international marriages began to fill this unmet demand. 
  Many migrant workers live in the industrial suburbs of Gyeonggi Province such as Siheung and Ansan, where foreigners account for 7.6% of the population.
caption: The South Korean economy grew almost non-stop from near zero to over a trillion dollars in less than half a century
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