The number of registered foreigners in Seoul is growing rapidly; it is estimated that there are currently approximately 247,000 foreigners living in Seoul as of 2012. They account for 2.4 percent of the total population in Seoul. This is a huge social...
The number of registered foreigners in Seoul is growing rapidly; it is estimated that there are currently approximately 247,000 foreigners living in Seoul as of 2012. They account for 2.4 percent of the total population in Seoul. This is a huge social change in South Korea has been advocating a single-race nation. Of them, the single largest foreigner group in Seoul is the holders of Chinese nationality, of which there are approximately 180,000 living in Seoul. They account for 72.8 percent of the total population of registered foreigners living in Seoul. There has been an increasing tendency towards immigration of foreigners with Chinese nationality since the mid-1990s when Korea and China established diplomatic relations. In particular, the influx of Korean-Chinese people has grown significantly since the mid-2000s.
The rapid growth of foreigners with Chinese nationality who account for the largest portion among all foreigners is changing the spatial pattern of foreign residential districts within Seoul at a fast rate. The foreigners living in Seoul tend to live in a particular foreign residential district depending on their nationality. As for the foreigners with Chinese nationality, they are primarily living in such districts as China Town of Daerim-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Yeonbeon-street of Garibong-dong, Guro-gu and so on. As such, the minority groups of foreign migrants tend to concentrate in their own communities by separating themselves from the main community that is composed of primarily locals.
When explaining the spatial distribution phenomenon of foreigners, it is important to understand the residential distribution of foreign migrants who have settled in the early phases because it is expected that the social capital formed by the spatial distribution of early foreign migrants is not only affecting the decision on settlements of foreign migrants in the subsequent influx but also their social adaptation process. The studies of Hee Chul Kim and Gun Hyuck Ahn(2011) and Jin Young Lee and Jin Nam(2012) indirectly show that the existing distribution has had a significant impact on the influx of foreign migrants. In addition, there appears a tendency for the spatial concentration of foreign migrants to become intensified during this process.
Examining the segregation and concentration pattern of spatial distribution of foreigners with Chinese nationality, who account for the largest portion of foreigners living in Seoul, is important when examining the social and policy aspects as well. In particular, the economic activities of foreigners with Chinese nationality have increased since the implementation of working visas in 2007, and their residential districts have become highly dense; thus, they have become separated from locals but also fused with locals within their spatial range as they expand beyond their existing residential areas. As a result, there have been some studies on the residential space distribution of foreigners with Chinese nationality; however, most of them focused on the degree of concentration and the cases as to their residential districts or the segregated and concentrated residential areas. Moreover, many of those studies have not sub-divided foreigners of Chinese nationality into Korean Chinese and non-Korean Chinese. They classified them only as foreigners with Chinese nationality and they studied only the differences in residential space distribution from other foreigners. Korean Chinese people called “Joseon-jok” are able to communicate in Korean and also have a high degree of understanding of Korean culture even though they hold Chinese nationality. In addition, some Korean Chinese people are able to migrate to Korea more easily than non-Korean Chinese people due to the Law on Ethnic Koreans Abroad (the Immigration and Legal Status of Overseas Koreans Act). Such characteristics are affecting the eligibility of foreigners to stay in South Korea as well as showing the differences in selecting residential places from other foreigners. Therefore, it would be necessary to examine changes and differences in their spatial distribution by classifying foreigners with Chinese nationality as Korean Chinese and non-Korean Chinese.
Thus, this study aims to empirically analyze the changes in the residential space distribution of foreigners with Chinese nationality by classifying them as Korean Chinese and non-Korean Chinese. The empirical analysis can be broadly divided into two areas. First, this study will analyze what differences the residential distribution of foreigners with Chinese nationality have from the residential distribution of locals in the immigrating country by determining the degree of residential segregation from locals. To determine this, the study will utilize a Dissimilarity Index. Second, it will examine how the spatial distribution of net increased foreigners with Chinese nationality has been changed based on the existing spatial distribution of foreigners with Chinese foreigners by leveraging the Adjusted Dissimilarity Index. This is meaningful in that this study empirically analyzes the trend seen in the existing studies, that is that the existing spatial distribution of people with the same nationality and race in the immigrating country has a significant impact on the residential distribution of the influx of migrants.
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