Tide of Kiwis off Seoul-searching
Soaring popularity of nation’s culture fuelling rise in travel to home of K-pop
South Korea is being described as like London in the swinging sixties by an immigration expert amid a rise in the number of Kiwis heading to the East Asian nation.
Last year, 33,088 New Zealanders travelled to South Korea, up from 31,623 the year before and 28,426 the previous year, figures from Auckland’s Korean Consulate office show.
The number of those aged under 40 hit nearly 17,000 last year, up from 15,600 in 2016 and 14,139 in 2015.
Professor Paul Spoonley, a Massey University sociologist and immigration expert, said more New Zealanders were heading to Korea because it was “cool”.
“Korea has become attractive in a broader cultural sense,” Spoonley said. “A bit like a more modest version of London in the swinging sixties.”
The Korean Wave, driven by the spread of Korean dramas and K-pop, is a global phenomenon fuelling the popularity of Korean culture.
Spoonley believed the tide of Kiwis heading to Seoul included KoreanNew Zealanders heading home.
“While the generation that decided to come to New Zealand in the 1990s are still often here, the next generation are keen to reconnect with their extended family and culture.”
Korean Consulate senior adviser Rebecca Kim said a look at the visas granted to Kiwis travelling to Korea showed many were heading there “mainly to experience the culture”.
“There was a time, like in 2012, when 178 New Zealanders were granted visas to teach English,” Kim said. “[There were] 63 last year.”
Instead, many Kiwis are travelling to Seoul to learn the Korean language.
Auckland-born Serena Low picked up Korean while studying at Korea University as part of a business exchange programme at AUT University last year.
The 22-year-old public relations consultant said she loved everything Korean and intended to go back to formally learn the Korean language.
Low found Seoul to be “really great”.
“No day is the same and there [are] tonnes of things to do”.
“If I get an opportunity, I’d really like to go back to Korea for a year to formally learn the language,” she added.
“New Zealand is where I’d like to settle down, but for the time being Seoul looks like a great place to be for my curious personality.”