Changes in the spatial differences of immigrants by country of birth’s income between 2008 and 2021 in South Korea

The growth of immigrant groups in developed countries has been mainly led by migrant workers from developing countries. Previous studies emphasized that spatial segregation of migrant groups has been expanded in major gateway cities in developed countries (Musterd and Deurloo, 2002; Park and Iceland, 2011). South Korea has seen rapid growth in the number of migrants. In the early 2000s, the migrant employment system was improved, and globalization progressed, accelerating the pace of migration. In particular, the places occupied by immigrants in South Korea differ according to their country of birth (COB) (Park, 2022). This study compares and visualizes the spatial difference between immigrants in 2008 and 2021 using cartograms. The status of COB’s income was divided into quantiles as of 2021, using per capita Gross domestic product data by 195 countries published by the International Monetary Fund (2022).

Figure 1 shows the major residential areas and concentration of migrant groups by the quantiles of COB’s income in 2008 and 2012. First, in the Q1 group, a high proportion of immigrants residing in Seoul among SMAs was observed, particularly in central business districts in Seoul (Figure 1(a)). In areas other than SMA, migrants’ residences were concentrated in large cities such as Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, and Geojae, where the shipbuilding industry consolidated. In the Q2 group, the proportion of immigrants in the SMA was relatively larger than that of the Q1 group. However, the main residential area was southwest of Seoul, which differs from the Q1 group (Figure 1(b)). The Q3 and Q4 groups exhibited residential selection behavior distinct from the Q1 and Q2 groups. Although both groups had a large resident population in SMA, the proportion of immigrants in Seoul was quite low (Figures 1(c) and (d)). In the Q3 and Q4 groups, many cases of residents living in large cities and manufacturing areas other than Seoul were seen.OPEN IN VIEWER

Figures 1(e)–(h) show the spatial changes of immigrants in 2021. In the Q1 group, the concentration in Seoul increased, while the immigrants in Geojae decreased significantly due to the decline of the Korean shipbuilding industry (Figure 1(e)). In the Q2 group, a decrease in Seoul and an increase in immigrant concentration in the southwestern part of the SMA were noted (Figure 1(f)). Both these groups were further extended to the southeastern boundary of the SMA. The Q3 group showed a decrease in SMA and an increase in immigrant concentration in Seoul, it showed an opposite trend to Q2 group (Figure 1(g)). The Q4 group revealed similar quantitative growth as the Q2 group, but it was concentrated in the northern areas of the SMA (Figure 1(h)).