An increasing number of South Korean men are looking to Japan not only for employment but also for marriage, drawn by what they see as more stable living conditions compared with South Korea’s tough job market and demanding marriage expectations.
According to Shueisha Online, a Japanese media outlet, the number of South Koreans seeking work or permanent settlement in Japan has been steadily rising. Data released by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare showed that the number of South Koreans working in Japan increased from about 69,000 in 2020 to roughly 75,000 in 2024, an increase of around 8 per cent over four years.
The trend reflects mounting frustration among young South Koreans with the country’s highly competitive employment landscape, which many see as leaving them little choice but to look abroad.
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One such case introduced by the outlet is a 34-year-old South Korean man identified by the pseudonym Choi Geon-woo. Choi majored in hotel management at a South Korean university and pursued hotel jobs at home before spending time on a working holiday in Australia. In 2019, he secured a job in Japan and now works for a real estate-related company there.
Choi described his job search in South Korea as punishing. “I applied to 10 luxury hotels in Seoul and got accepted by only one,” he said. “Many required a TOEIC (English proficiency test) score of at least 850, and there was even talk that men needed to be around 180cm (5.9 feet) tall because appearance mattered.”
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He added that even after landing a job, long working hours and low pay eventually pushed him to leave South Korea.