46% of Koreans accept foreign nationals as members of society: poll
Nearly half of South Koreans are open to regarding foreign nationals as members of society and have become more accepting of North Korean defectors and migrant workers, a poll showed Tuesday.
According to the Korea Social Integration Survey conducted by the Korea Institute of Public Administration from Sept. 1 to Oct. 31 last year, 45.9 percent of 8,221 respondents said that they accept foreign nationals as members of the country, while 25.4 percent said they don’t.
The survey reflects hopes that foreign nationals will help solve labor shortages and provide social support as Korea’s population dwindles and ages. As of the end of December, there were some 2.51 million foreign residents in Korea, or 4.9 percent of the nation’s total population, according to the Ministry of Justice.
However, those polled showed a lack of trust in foreign nationals. The highest level of trust was with family members — 3.6 points out of 4 — followed by friends and acquaintances at 2.9 points and foreign nationals at 1.8 points.
Hostile social attitudes toward North Korean defectors and foreign workers were softened as 16.5 percent of those surveyed replied that they don’t accept North Koreans as members of society, down 5.7 percentage points from a year ago, the poll said. Only 7.2 percent of respondents said they don’t accept migrant workers as part of society, down 2.8 percentage points from 2022.
Respondents picked “high economic growth” as the country’s top priority over the next 10 years and believed growth is more important than distribution. The survey suggested that people’s happiness levels increase when they earn higher incomes. The happiness level for a household that earns less than 1 million won ($746) was 6.1 out of 10 points, whereas a household that earned between 5 million won to 6 million won was 6.9 points.
Health care institutions were the most-trusted organizations with 2.9 points out of 4, whereas the National Assembly scored the lowest in terms of integrity with just 1.9 points.