A survey found that around one out of four migrants settled in Jeju plan to leave Jeju, citing reasons such as the job situation and high living costs.

According to the final report of the entrusted research project to establish a basic plan for settled Jeju residents (2022-2025), conducted by the Jeju Research Institute at the request of Jeju Province, a one-on-one interview survey of 410 migrants settled in Jeju found that 28.3% of survey respondents planned to leave Jeju and relocate to another region.

The question “Why are you planning to relocate outside of Jeju Province?” elicited the first- and second-place responses of “Due to a work appointment to another region or to find employment elsewhere” and “Because of the low level of income, e.g. wages” at 29.6% and 15.8% respectively, leading to the conclusion that the employment issue is at the core of the departure problem.

In addition, the high prices and cost of living (13.2%), changes in children’s educational environment (12.3%), and inadequate medical and welfare facilities were also cited as reasons for migrant residents to decide to leave Jeju. In particular, migrants settled in Jeju most harshly criticized the medical environment in Jeju.

On a seven-point scale, satisfaction with the medical environment was rated at 3.39 points, failing to reach the standard score of four points. The parking and traffic environment (3.65 points), economic activity and income creation (3.66 points), and the residential environment including housing provision (3.81 points) also failed to reach the standard score. Other areas, such as local community and social participation environment (4.17 points), educational environment (4.09 points), and the leisure and cultural lifestyle environment (4.27 points) barely exceeded the standard score. Meanwhile, Jeju’s natural environment (6.13 points) and overall life in Jeju (5.12 points) were rated relatively highly.

Migrants settled in Jeju showed relatively low rates of participation in the local community, with 72.9% of all respondents stating that they “do not participate in local community activities.” Reasons for this included “Because I’m busy with work such as my job” (34.8%) and “Because I do not know what kind of activities are taking place” (30.8%). The survey found that the satisfaction rate for various areas of migrant life in Jeju was generally low.

The ratio of respondents planning to relocate was higher among those whose residence was in a dong area closer to urban centers. The ratio of respondents answering “I want to move to another region outside of Jeju” marked 42.0% for migrants settling in dong areas in Seogwipo-si, the highest area in Jeju, followed by the Jeju-si dong areas (32.7%), eup/myeon areas in Seogwipo-si (25.0%), and Jeju-si eup/myeon areas (16.7%).