Quarter of Southeast Asian expats in Seoul experience discrimination: survey

One out of every four Southeast Asians living in Seoul has experienced discrimination, according to survey results released Tuesday.

The poll of 333 expatriates living in Seoul, conducted by the Seoul Development Institute, found that Asians experience more discrimination than foreigners from OECD countries, which also include Japan.

According to the poll, 25.9 percent of those from Southeast Asian countries answered “yes” when asked if they “have ever experienced discrimination in Seoul.” A high percentage of expats from Northeast Asian countries answered the same way, at 20.5. The disparity becomes more apparent when compared to foreigners from OECD countries, of which only 8.2 percent answered yes to the same question.

According to Hong Suk-ki, research fellow at the Seoul Development Institute, much of the discrimination comes from Koreans’ perception of economic differences among the countries over the past several decades.

In the past, many of the OECD countries were more economically developed in comparison to Korea, so Seoul residents often looked at foreigners of those countries with a “starry gaze,” according to Hong.

“However, foreigners from lesser-developed Southeast Asian countries were seen as ‘freeloaders,’” Hong said.

The poll also found that discrimination was highest in the area of employment, with discrimination in public administrative services and housing following close behind.

Across the board, many foreigners in the poll felt discrimination in the financial sector.

Hong said the process for opening up accounts at banks here is tremendously complicated for foreigners, questioning the “global” aspect of global banks when they cannot offer a global service.

Southeast Asians felt discrimination in the health care sector as well, the poll found, with many unable to communicate in Korean or English, usually the only other language option available.

When Koreans think of foreigners, many assume that they can speak English, said Hong, when in actuality only a small fraction of the expat population speaks English.

“People should see others equally, regardless of where they are from, what their skin color is or what their religion is, but we Koreans lack experience in that,” said Hong.

According to government data from 2009, of the 255,749 registered foreigners in Seoul, more than 200,000 are from China, Japan, and Taiwan.

By Robert Lee (rjmlee@heraldcorp.com)