Three out of four Korean Americans have not considered moving to Korea, according to a survey conducted by Pew Research, a leading international polling organization. Among those who would consider returning to Korea, “better healthcare” was the main reason cited.
The survey, conducted between July 2022 and the end of January 2023, gathered responses from Asian Americans. It revealed that 72 percent of Korean Americans stated that they would not consider moving to Korea from the U.S. Meanwhile, 26 percent expressed openness to the idea, with no significant difference between the first and second generations.
When asked why they would consider returning to Korea, 24 percent of Koreans mentioned “receiving better healthcare in Korea,” while 22 percent cited a desire to be closer to friends and family. Other reasons included feeling safer (10%), cultural familiarity (10%), and being with parents (10%).
Regarding returning to their respective home countries, the survey found that 16 percent of Chinese, 31 percent of Filipinos, 33 percent of Indians, and 20 percent of Vietnamese expressed willingness to do so.
The survey also indicated that Japan had the lowest favorability rating among Korean Americans in the U.S., with only 35 percent holding a favorable view. This contrasts with Japanese favorability among Asian Americans as a whole, which stands at 68 percent.
Generational differences in views were evident, as 31 percent of first-generation Koreans (those born in Korea) had a favorable view of Japan, compared to 50 percent of second-generation Koreans. Pew Research suggests that this disparity may stem from historical antipathy between the two countries.
In terms of overall favorability, Korean Americans had a 78 percent favorable view of the United States, 52 percent for Taiwan, 29 percent for the Philippines, and 29 percent for Vietnam.
Looking at the Asian group as a whole, the United States received the highest favorability rating at 78 percent, followed by Japan (68%), South Korea (62%), Taiwan (56%), and the Philippines (37%). China received the lowest rating with only 20 percent expressing a favorable opinion. Among Asian immigrants, favorability toward the U.S. was higher among first-generation immigrants (83%) compared to U.S.-born second-generation immigrants (64%).
Additionally, each Asian immigrant group was asked about their favorability toward their own ancestral homeland. Taiwan had the highest rating at 95 percent, followed by Japan (92%), South Korea (86%), and India (76%). China had the lowest favorability rating at 41 percent.
The survey was conducted among 7,006 individuals of Asian descent in the U.S. by randomly selecting mailing address names over a six-month period from 2022 to January 2023. A total of 1,146 Korean Americans participated in the survey. The overall margin of error is ±2.1 percentage points, while the margin of error for the Korean American group is ±5.1 percentage points.
BY BRIAN CHOI [choi.inseong@koreadaily.com]
