Younger Koreans say they contemplated emigration upon NK threat

Jang Ka-yoon, a 27-year-old office worker in Seoul, had thought about leaving her home country after watching TV news reports on the worsened security situation upon threats exchanged between North Korea and the US last year.

Fluent in English, Jang said she had imagined herself living in Canada or New Zealand, as both countries are known to have good environments for education and high living standards, if she had to choose to leave the country in case of an imminent war.

 

Like Jang, more young Koreans said they had considered seeking refuge abroad or emigration, amid the deteriorating security situation on the Korean Peninsula before inter-Korean summit talks this year, compared to people in their 50s and 60s that include those who experienced the 1950-53 Korean War, a survey showed Tuesday.

In the survey of 1,000 people nationwide by The Korea Herald, 27.9 percent of respondents aged between 19 and 29 said they had considered emigration, while 20.8 percent of respondents in the same age category said they had thought about evacuating. Nearly one-quarter of 30-something respondents also thought about emigration, while 17.4 percent said they considered leaving.

Oh Su-hyun, a 37-year-old mother in Seoul, said leaving the country was the first thing that came to mind when the security situation worsened last year.

Despite the reconciliatory mood developing between Seoul and Pyongyang, she remains mentally prepared in case the mood changes. “We need to better prepare ourselves. I would consider leaving for the US or Japan, or even Southeast Asian countries for the safety of my family.”

In contrast, people in their 50s and 60s said they had not really thought about it.

More than 80 percent of respondents aged between 50 and 59 said leaving the country amid a worsening security situation -- emigration or seeking refuge abroad -- was not an option for them.

Around 71 percent of people aged 60 and above also said they had not considered leaving the country.

But the urge to emigrate, more common among the younger generation, may not entirely derive from the North Korea issue, according to experts, as young Koreans may be more influenced by insecure economic and social circumstances than the older age group.

“People in their 50s and 60s have little choice because they have established their lives here already. Starting afresh overseas, for them, could be considered as troublesome,” said Im Woon-taek, a sociology professor at Keimyung University.

“For young people, on the other hand, there already exists instability for them in terms of society and the economy, and their desire to emigrate has been amplified by the North Korea threat,” he said.

By gender, men were not as interested in leaving the country as women. Nearly 70 percent of male respondents said they had never given a thought to leaving South Korea for good, while fewer women or 61.8 percent, said they had not.

By region, 77.6 percent of people who live in South Gyeongsang Province, including Busan and Ulsan -- the farthest cities from Pyongyang, except for Jeju Island -- were not interested in leaving the country. The percentage of people who had not considered leaving their homes was lower among respondents living in Seoul.

The Korea Herald survey was conducted in partnership with a local research firm, JoWon Communication Innovation, between Aug. 10 and 12.


By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)