Introduction
As Korea gains more global recognition, more foreigners dream of living here. But the moment you start researching, visas, housing, banking, the reality sets in. A mountain of paperwork. Requirements that feel excessive. Systems that seem built to work against you.
Your name gets rejected because of "special characters." Online forms can't handle more than 10 letters. Your 8-character name gets privacy-blurred on delivery labels, but only on one character, while Korean names are blurred correctly.
It feels unfair. Why can't they just update it? Why can't they change it so I don't face these issues anymore?
Before we blame the system, let's zoom out and create some context.
The Numbers: How Many Foreigners Actually Live in Korea?
If you follow certain communities on LinkedIn or Instagram, you might think Korea is full of foreigners. The reality? Out of South Korea's 50+ million population, only around 2.73 million are foreign residents , roughly 5.3% of the total.
According to the Ministry of Justice's Immigration Statistics (2025), foreign residents made up approximately 5.3% of the population as of late 2023. While this number is growing, it's still a small minority.
Compare that to countries like Canada (21% foreign-born) or Australia (30%), and you start to see the picture: Korea's systems were never built with foreigners as a priority.
Why the System Was Built This Way
As someone who works in tech, I understand how systems are built, and how hard they are to change.
Korea's digital infrastructure was designed for Koreans. Korean names are short (usually 3 syllables), written in Hangul, and fit neatly into legacy databases. There was no need to account for:
- Names with 15+ characters
- Special characters (hyphens, apostrophes, accents)
- Non-Korean ID formats (e.g., Alien Registration Numbers vs. Resident Registration Numbers)
Just a few decades ago, Korea was a relatively isolated country. There wasn't much international traffic. The systems reflected that reality.
Migrating a legacy system to support edge cases isn't trivial. It's not just "adding a field", it's rewriting databases, updating APIs, retraining staff, and ensuring nothing breaks. For a system serving 50 million people, that's a monumental task.
And when only 5% of users are affected? It's easy to see why it wasn't prioritized.
How the System Is Changing
Talk to foreigners who've lived in Korea for 10+ years, and they'll tell you: things are getting better.
What used to require in-person visits, Korean guarantors, and mountains of paperwork is slowly moving online. Services that once flat-out rejected foreign IDs are now adapting.
Examples of progress:
- Banking: Apps like Kakao Bank and Toss now support foreigner registration with ARC (Alien Registration Card) numbers.
- Government services: The Government24 portal now allows foreigners to access certain services online (though not all).
- E-commerce: Major platforms like Coupang now accept foreign cards and longer names.
- Immigration: The HiKorea platform has improved significantly, allowing visa extensions and status changes online.
But it's not perfect. Many systems still lag behind. Some banks still require a Korean phone number before you can get a bank account. Some apartment contracts still assume you have a Korean guarantor.
Change takes time. And Korea is moving faster than most people realize.
The Bigger Picture: Nationality vs. Residence
One of the most frustrating distinctions is the gap between being a Korean national and a foreign resident.
Even if you've lived in Korea for years, pay taxes, contribute to society, you're still treated differently in many systems. Not out of malice, but because the system was built around citizenship, not residency.
This affects:
- Access to certain loans or financial products
- Voting rights (even at the local level, with some exceptions)
- Job opportunities (some government or education roles require Korean nationality)
- Social services and benefits
These aren't bugs, they're design choices rooted in Korea's historical context as an ethnically homogenous nation. But as Korea becomes more global, these choices are being questioned.
What You Can Do
Here's the reality: you can't force a system to change overnight just to make a very small minority happy. Systems are complex. They serve millions of people. They have technical debt, legacy infrastructure, and competing priorities.
But that doesn't mean we should stay silent.
What we can do is point out the issues, talk about them, and educate people on how things can be done better. Complaining all day doesn't change anything. What does make a difference is active, constructive dialogue.
Talk to communities. Share your experiences. Most Koreans I speak with say, "Oh, I didn't know you faced so many issues here in Korea." They genuinely didn't realize. And when they understand, they feel compassion. They want to help make things better.
It's not about blaming Korea or Koreans for the system being the way it is. It's about offering insight, giving people a glimpse into what life as an immigrant is really like. When you share your story with empathy and understanding, people listen. And slowly, that collective awareness creates pressure for change.
So instead of getting frustrated, try this:
- When you encounter a broken system, report it calmly. Explain the issue clearly.
- Join foreigner communities and share solutions, not just complaints.
- Talk to Korean friends, coworkers, neighbors. Help them understand your experience.
- Support businesses and services that make an effort to be foreigner-friendly.
Change happens when enough people understand the problem and care enough to fix it. You can be part of that process, not by demanding immediate change, but by building bridges and improving the country together.
Conclusion
Are foreigners systematically disadvantaged in Korea? Yes.
But it's not because Korea hates foreigners. It's because the system was built for a different era, an era when foreigners were rare exceptions, not a growing part of society.
The good news? Korea is changing. Slowly, but surely. Technology is accelerating that change. And as more foreigners settle here, the pressure to modernize will only grow.
In the meantime, patience and persistence are your best tools. The system isn't perfect, but it's improving, and you're part of that change.
Have you experienced systemic disadvantages as a foreigner in Korea? Share your story in the comments or reply to this newsletter.
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👋 About Kim Ninja
Kim Ninja (Nguyen Huy Kim)
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The blog published by Kim Ninja (Huy-Kim Nguyen) is available for informational purposes only and is not considered legal advice on any subject matter.
