More than 4,000 Koreans immigrants overseas choose to migrate back to Korea each year. This figure has been growing since 2010. 

According to the Korean Ministry of Justice (MIJ), 112 Koreans who has a permanent residency or citizenship in Australia have migrated back to Korea in 2017. This has increased from 102 in 2016. 
However, the number of Koreans who choose to migrate to Australia was only 110 in 2017, and have been decreasing since 2009. 

The most popular destination for immigration is the United States, as 923 Koreans have migrated there in 2017. The reverse migration figure was 1655. Canada followed with 207 migrating, and 356 returning. 

The number of reverse migration has totaled over 4,000 every year since 2009, while the number of migration fell down to 1,000. 

Experts suspect this growth is due to financial problems, cultural and language differences, homesickness, and decreasing benefits. 

In addition, the fact that Korea doesn’t recognise dual-citizenship may contribute as well. 

Mr Kim, who recently chose to return to Korean said, “I lived in Australia for 10 years but it just got harder financially. I worked night and day for more money even on weekends, spending less time with family.” 

“With imperfect English, I could only work as a cleaner or at a construction site. We were all physically and mentally exhausted. After a long discussion with my family, we chose to migrate back to Korea,” he added. 

Experts warned reverse-migration as a serious issue, as 60 to 70 per cent of immigrants choose to migrate again.