Before 1990 there were barely 1,000 Koreans in New Zealand. Then the numbers soared, reaching almost 20,000 a decade later. Leaving their crowded cities for a less frantic urban life has proved very popular among South Koreans. They have flocked to Auckland, where they have built up business and cultural networks.
Korea is divided into two countries: the Communist north and the democratic south. Only a handful of North Koreans have arrived in New Zealand; almost all the Korean immigrants have come from South Korea.
Korean people began coming to New Zealand comparatively recently: the first census record was in 1966. Until the early 1990s few others arrived and the population remained below 1,000.
Following a review of immigration policy in 1986, a new act in 1987 changed the rules about who could enter New Zealand. Rather than discriminating by country of origin, the requirements emphasised economic, social and humanitarian factors. In 1991 the government introduced a points system for professional and business migrants, and set yearly immigration targets. Unlike the old policy, the points system was not based on a list of preferred occupations. These changes allowed thousands of South Koreans to emigrate over the following decade. They mainly arrived in two waves: in the early to mid-1990s and in the early 2000s.
In the decade from 1991 New Zealand’s Korean population increased 20-fold, from 930 to 19,026. This rapid growth reflected not only the immigration policy changes, but also a booming Korean economy, which allowed many to accumulate the capital required to emigrate. In 2003, 48 million people were crammed into South Korea, a land area smaller than the North Island of New Zealand. With the pressures of life in the teeming capital of Seoul and other cities, and the competitive nature of the Korean education system, many middle-class people looked overseas for a lifestyle change.
However, arrivals dropped after 1995, when New Zealand introduced an English-language test as a condition for immigration. This discouraged many Koreans from applying. In addition, an economic crisis in Korea in 1997 reduced the relative wealth of many prospective immigrants, making it harder for them to leave.
In 2002 economist Inbom Choi told a Seoul conference what was behind the recent wave of Korean migration:
‘Korea’s highly competitive educational system is driving these people from their homeland. They would rather raise their children in an easy-going, environmentally cleaner, less expensive and English speaking educational system.’ 1
The New Zealand government’s long-term business immigration scheme stimulated a second wave of Korean immigrants in the early 2000s.
Some Koreans returned home, while others used New Zealand as a stepping stone, usually to Australia. Still others were dubbed ‘astronaut families’, where the husband returned to work in Korea, remitting money and occasionally visiting his wife and family in New Zealand.
New Zealand’s immigration policy is the main factor influencing the number of arrivals, and therefore the size of the country’s Korean community. On the other hand, a lack of job or business opportunities in New Zealand’s small economy, coupled with some hostility and racism towards Asians, has hampered their adjustment to their new home. Some Koreans were attracted back to their homeland for employment opportunities.
In 2003 there were some 15,000 Koreans studying in New Zealand, and the country was still a popular immigration, tourist and student destination for Koreans.
In 2001 almost 70% of New Zealand’s Koreans lived in the Auckland area, with 16% in Christchurch and others scattered throughout the country. Most were used to living in apartments in high-rise blocks. In New Zealand a city lifestyle suited them, as it offered access to all the necessities and to community networks.
The majority of Korean immigrants held tertiary qualifications and were in their thirties and forties, meeting the immigration criteria. Some chain migration occurred as earlier arrivals sent home favourable reports to friends and relations – including elderly parents – who then came out to join them.
On arrival most families had sufficient funds to buy houses in relatively affluent suburbs such as Auckland’s North Shore which, with its Korean churches, soon held an active community. By 2001, in North Shore City, Korean was the second most common language after English.
Finding a suitable job was the greatest challenge. Those who arrived in the early 1990s, when Korea’s economy was booming, were unwilling to take just any job on arrival in New Zealand. Not finding work in their areas of expertise, some established small businesses with their own funds. The income from these enterprises often augmented earnings from investments. In 1996 over 50% of Korean immigrants in New Zealand were either underemployed or unemployed. By 2001 the employment rate had risen, but those in full-time work were still mainly engaged in small-scale businesses serving the Korean community.
Professional workers also focused on the community: there were real estate agents, lawyers and bank employees all catering for Koreans. Popular ethnic businesses were grocery stores, travel agencies, restaurants, and souvenir shops for Korean tourists. In the mid-1990s some immigrants serviced a short-lived boom in the Korean tourist market. The boom ended in 1997 when a foreign exchange crisis rocked the Korean economy. The popularity of tourism has been revived and the influx of Korean tourists is strong. In terms of per capita spending per day, Korean tourists are among the highest.
In the early 2000s many Koreans were in the process of settling; very few were fully integrated into mainstream society. The small numbers who had come before 1991 tended to have higher employment rates and incomes than later arrivals.
Having spent more time in the country, the 1990s wave of immigrants started to move into professional jobs. Businesses too began to serve the wider community. In Auckland, Korean greenhouses and market gardens were supplying the city with vegetables. Laundries and dairies sprang up in urban areas. Some Koreans who had moved north to Whāngārei became involved in businesses such as sawmilling and golf driving ranges.
Alex Kim was a marketing manager for Chanel cosmetics in Seoul. Arriving in Auckland in the early 1990s, he opened a shop called The Sweet Factory. He then moved to Whāngārei, where he helped found the Immanuel Church.
‘I was trying to purchase a lobster factory … but God had a different plan for me. He wanted me to come here and set up the church.’ 1
Wherever they have settled, Koreans have helped boost Catholic and Presbyterian congregations. In 2001 over half of New Zealand Koreans were Christians, with Buddhists a small minority. Particularly on Auckland’s North Shore, Korean churches were established in existing church buildings.
Korean newspapers and magazines such as the New Korea Herald, the New Zealand Times and Korea Town have been circulating in Auckland since the 1990s. Restaurants also appeared, serving up traditional fare such as pulgogi and kimchi.
The community gathers on national days, including 1 March, which marks the Korean Independence Movement’s demonstration against the Japanese in 1919. In 2002 the celebrations in Christchurch featured percussionists and solos on the haegum (two-string fiddle) and gayageum (12-string zither).
Many Koreans love golf. In 2002, 13-year-old Jae An from Rotorua became the youngest person to qualify for the New Zealand Open, where he impressed such luminaries as Tiger Woods.
The New Zealand census figures listed here show the number of residents born in Korea.
In the 2006 census, people were asked to indicate the ethnic group or groups with which they identified. The numbers include those who indicated more than one group.
Greif, Stuart William, ed. Immigration and national identity in New Zealand: one people, two peoples, many peoples? Palmerston North: Dunmore, 1995.
Kim, Doo-Chul, and Hong-key Yoon. ‘Reality in paradise: a pilot study of Korean immigrants in New Zealand using the 1996 census.’ In The new geography of human mobility – inequality trends? Rome: IGU Home of Geography, 2003.
Lidgard, Jacqueline, and Hong-key Yoon. ‘The employment experiences of recent Korean immigrants in New Zealand.’ In Labour, employment and work in New Zealand, edited by P. Morrison, 263–275. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 1998.
Yoon, Hong-key, and Richard Bedford. ‘Korean visitors to New Zealand: a case of unsustainable tourism?’ New Zealand Journal of Geography (October 1999): 7–11.
Yoon, Hong-key, and Seok-hoe Yim. ‘Nyujilandu okulandu hankukin sengup punsosk (An analysis of occupations of Korean immigrants in Auckland, New Zealand), in Korean with abstract in English.’ Journal of the Korean Geographical Society 32–4 (1997): 491–510.
This website (in Korean) is for Korean residents in and around Christchurch.
http://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/subjects/index.cfm?S=S_KOREAN
On the University of Auckland website, this section gives information about courses on Korean language, literature and culture taught at the School of Asian Studies.
http://www.rembrandt.gen.nz/new_zealand_martial_arts/korean.html
This website gives information about hapkido and tae kwon do, and links to related New Zealand sites.
This society is an association of Korean residents in the Auckland area. The website is in Korean.