Life in Korea as a Foreigner -1- Jobs and Life
"Hey! Can you take a picture with me?"
Ten years ago, when my foreign friend came to Korea, a little child came with their parents and asked my friend.
My friend smiled brightly and took a picture with them, and the child and his mother left with words of gratitude, seeming satisfied.
That scene hasn't been forgotten even after a long time has passed. It just made me feel strange.
If my friend settles in Korea, can she become a member of this society and a neighbor? Or will she forever remain a 'foreigner with Korean citizenship' rather than a Korean? Now, numerous large and small foreign towns have emerged next to my city.
They existed ten years ago too, but they've grown even larger now. Russian town, Muslim town, Chinese town, Vietnamese town.
They aren't clearly divided into zones, but when you go to certain areas, you can see people of each nationality more frequently.
Now, you can easily see Latin Americans in Seoul's university districts, and foreign towns have also emerged in Busan at the southern end.
What shocked me was seeing small foreign language signs on the way to a rural village in the north where my grandmother lives a few years ago.
Foreign towns have formed even in rural villages with small populations.
In this way, Korea is rapidly transforming into a multi-ethnic nation. As Korea's birth rate rapidly decreases, foreigners are filling the vacant spots in schools and workplaces. When I was in elementary school, the capacity of one class was 40 students, but now the capacity of one class is less than 20.
And among them, you can see foreigners
Even now, some of my friends dream of coming to Korea and settling down.
As a Korean, I'd like to talk about the advantages and dark sides of Korean society that I feel based on the foreigners in my city and the surrounding media.
Of course, please keep in mind that this is just my personal opinion. The advantage of Korean society is that you can earn a decent income among the countries in Northeast Asia. As of 2025, the minimum wage is $1,450 per month, and it varies depending on your expertise and work style.
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| This person received 5.7 million won after taxes, which is approximately $4,000. They worked on holidays and did overtime as well. In Korea, work exceeding 8 hours per day must be compensated with additional pay at 1.5 times the regular rate. And on holidays, it's about 2 times the regular rate. They likely experienced extreme fatigue and mental exhaustion from the demanding workload. |
Image: Provided by the worker (censored), used for educational purposes
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| This person worked 433.5 hours in a single month (77 + 124 + 201 + 31.5 hours), which raises concerns about long working hours in some jobs. He received approximately 9.06 million won, equivalent to around $6,260. The compensation reflects the extended hours, but such a schedule is clearly demanding. While it may be sustainable for some, many would find it difficult to maintain for more than a year. Nevertheless, he managed to handle it. |
Image: Provided by the worker (censored), used for educational purposes
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| This woman seems to have worked in a factory deboning duck and chicken. She is quite
skilled. She earned 6.2 million won. That's equivalent to $4,300 every month. |
Honestly, I also want to get a job in such a factory.
Most Koreans tend to feel ashamed of working in small and medium-sized enterprise
factories. Foreigners fill those vacant positions.
However, generally, factories don't usually
encourage additional work to save labor costs. But in busy factories or those with excellent
profitability, these working patterns tend to exist.
Typically, the average monthly income in
factories where people work 8 hours a day is $1,700, and it's higher in major corporate
subsidiaries($3000~6000).
However, it's very difficult for foreigners to get hired in such places(
major corporate
subsidiaries
$3000~6000)...
because they ask fluent korean language and professional
degrees.(Of course, in the case of the three factories I mentioned above, foreigners can get
hired and earn that much money, but they have to work about 12-14 hours a day)
From what I see, the factories in those three pay stub photos don't appear to be large
corporation factories.
Generally, major corporation factories don't make employees work
such long hours. Their basic labor costs are higher compared to other factories, so if they
made workers work 14 hours, they would have to pay about $10,000 a month.
The reaction of the Korean community to this data is admiration and envy of their honesty
and diligence.
And on the other hand, there are also views expressing gratitude for them
coming to work in various places in Korea where there is a shortage of labor.
While there are these good aspects, there are also dark sides. As mentioned above, these
factories are not always available, and sometimes there might be bad, unscrupulous
business owners and discriminatory treatment.
And it's also difficult for me to say that
foreigners residing in Korea have equal employment opportunities with Koreans.
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| A foreign student majoring in Computer Engineering at Sejong University reportedly applied to hundreds of backend developer jobs and internships in Korea, but did not receive a single interview opportunity. |
Despite revising their resume with the help of local classmates, the results remained the same. While Korean students more easily access internships and lab programs, international students often find such pathways less accessible due to language or systemic hurdles.
Even after several years of study in Korea and attaining basic fluency, many international students feel discouraged by the limited job prospects. Some eventually choose to return to their home countries. These cases suggest that more inclusive systems could better support international graduates.
Even with language barriers, international students who have studied in Korea for four years can communicate in basic Korean, but many feel discouraged after failing to receive interview opportunities despite being qualified and locally educated.
As a result, many eventually return to their home countries, and the author argues that systemic improvements are needed to address this issue.
The impressions of people who read this article were: opinions that Korean language skills
need to be improved further, that finding employment is not easy even for Koreans, and that
realistically,
2)if they had to pay the same salary, people would choose to hire Koreans.
3)It's the same when Koreans go abroad. Without a work visa, as soon as you press the
apply button, you're automatically rejected within 3 seconds.
Honestly, I see it that way too. It's still not easy for ordinary companies to hire foreigners. At
my father's company, they hired foreigners as researchers, but it seems the CEO was
expecting relatively cheaper labor costs and government subsidies.
I feel that Korea still provides good employment opportunities, but it still falls short of
having ideal aspects for foreigners. Although his claim of applying to 1,000 companies may
be exaggerated, and there were probably many fake companies too, even taking that into
account, it seems true that finding employment is difficult.
Nevertheless, numerous foreign towns are emerging in Korea, and around 560,000
foreigners are working in Korea. (This is the approximate number of foreigners working, not
tourists.) Our country's population is about 50 million, and if we calculate the number of
workers, which is 28 million, it means that one out of every 56 workers is a foreigner. Of
course, this is an approximate calculation.
Additionally, new departments for foreigners are being established in Korea, and there are
cases where universities help outstanding students find employment.
About racial discrimination and living standards. Korea is also a country where racial
discrimination exists. I sometimes see cases where foreigners experience racial discrimination in Korea.
And I could also see those scenes in documentaries.
Based on what I've felt while traveling to various countries such as Europe, Southeast Asia,
India, Iran, etc. over the past 10 years, there is no country that is free from racial
discrimination.
This may sound like an excuse, though.
To speak carefully, I would like to say that the possibility of you being publicly assaulted
outside due to racial issues is very low.
Based on what I’ve heard and experienced, some individuals with darker skin tones have reported facing more frequent social bias in Korea. and there may also be unpleasant experiences from people who have sexual
fantasies about foreigners.
In the past, foreign friends often talked to me about why there are so many perverts among
Koreans. In fact, while There are times when inappropriate behavior abroad is criticized in Korea, but similar issues can also be found domestically, the truth is that there doesn't seem to be much difference
between our country and others.
I remember a scene from a documentary I watched before, where a child with dark skin
cried while telling a child with white skin how upsetting and sad it was that they received
different treatment.
Yes, even when I was in elementary school with only Koreans, children
with darker skin often became the subject of ridicule.
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| He is a famous African in Korea. He settled in Korea as a refugee, but he is using his talent to appear on entertainment programs and broadcasts in Korea |
He settled in Korea as a refugee, but he is using his talent
to appear on entertainment programs and broadcasts in Korea.
Yes, these incidents have become a hot topic online, and there is a growing movement to
reflect on them.
Although there are still many areas where we fall short, the number of
foreigners continues to increase, and I want to say that there are steady efforts to change
these wrong perceptions and systems.
If you are worried about these aspects, don't stress too much. I also experienced it for a
long time abroad, and I have experienced that we can make good friends around us and
overcome it, and I am seeing my foreign friends successfully adapting to Korea. Korea is
changing rapidly.
To be clear, while Korea is not yet a very ideal country, I want to say that compared to other
countries, it is not a country where racial discrimination is very severe and exclusivity is
extreme.
There may be people who have experienced such harm... but from my experience
of working with foreigners and spending time with foreign friends in Korea, although it's
certainly not perfect, I want to say that it is definitely not the extremely racist country that
sometimes circulates on the internet.
To summarize
1.the content covered in this part includes the average income that foreign workers in
Korea can expect (1,700 USD), and the minimum wage is 1,450 USD. In some workplaces
where there is a shortage of labor, if you work about 14 hours a day, you can expect to earn
up to a maximum of 6,000 USD per month.
-However, such workplaces are not very common, and there is a disadvantage that diverse
job opportunities are not guaranteed for foreigners who have graduated from universities in
Korea or foreigners who have visited Korea for employment.
2.Racial discrimination tends to be more pronounced against people with darker skin
colors, and even foreigners with lighter skin tones experience uncomfortable situations
with people who have sexual fantasies about them.
-However, people have a shameful view of racial discrimination and do not support it.
Cases of violent racial discrimination are also rare.
Korea is a small country and boasts a
large population relative to its area. The public safety is very good, and in such an
environment, there will be almost no situations where you would feel threatened.
My friend
also safely moved around well in the early morning hours.-Foreigners of various races are participating in Korean broadcasts, and the country is also
rapidly becoming multiethnic.
As time passes, there is a high possibility that these issues
will improve further.
Next time, I'll finish writing the content that I couldn't include here, and write about realistic
ways to get a job in Korea or information about universities.
The link to Part 2 is below. It contains information about visa and employment difficulties
and how to improve them.