Koreans in Singapore
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 19,450 (2015) | |
| Languages | |
| Korean, English, Chinese | |
| Religion | |
| Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Korean diaspora |
Koreans in Singapore consist mainly of South Korean expatriates. The community formed a population of 19,450 individuals as of 2015[update], according to the South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, making them the world's 17th-largest Korean diaspora community. Their population has grown by about 60% since 2007.
There is evidence of Koreans living in Singapore as early as the 1930s, when their homeland was under Japanese rule. A few Koreans are buried in the pre-World War II cemetery of Singapore's Japanese community.
In the early 2000s, a variety of factors attracted South Korean migration to Singapore, including education, low taxes, and the ease of obtaining permanent residency status. In 2006, the number of Koreans purchasing Singapore real estate jumped by 132% compared to 2005, with many purchasing as owner-occupiers as well as for investment purposes. Following the increase in the Korean population, the number of restaurants and retailers aimed at the community is on the rise, and now includes two ddeok shops. South Korea's Andong General Hospital and Singapore's Gleneagles Hospital and Medical Centre established a clinic aimed at Koreans in Singapore as well as those living in Malaysia; initially staffed by a single Andong doctor assisted by a number of Korean-speaking attendants, the clinic cost SG$200,000 to set up.
Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, moved to Singapore in 2012 after fleeing Macau, and other high ranking North Koreans visit Singapore frequently to receive health care or to purchase luxury goods unavailable in their home country. North Korean defectors state that this relationship is the reason why the official Korean Central News Agency referred to Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew as an "intimate friend" of North Korea. The Singaporean organisation Choson Exchange has also arranged for North Korean university students to obtain business internships in Singapore; under their auspices, two men and three women between the ages of 25 and 39 spent a month working at a business incubator in Singapore in 2013.
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