Leaving Seoul: is a push to move the capital gaining ground among South Koreans?

Congestion, excessive competition for jobs and a lack of affordable housing in South Korea’s capital has revived a plan for decentralisation

While most young Koreans are still attracted to the promise of Seoul, others have decamped to less urban areas where ‘all they need to do is enjoy life’

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The central Gwanghwamun district of Seoul during a period of heavy pollution in March 2019. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:00am, 28 Jan 2021Updated: 8:24am, 28 Jan 2021

For Kim Joo-tak and Noh Geon-hwi, two 20-something South Koreans, Seoul represents two sides of the same coin: the rich promise of living in a metropolis of 25-million-plus people, and the inequities that come with staying.

Young people and families from all corners of the country move to metropolitan Seoul – the Seoul Capital Area includes Seoul, Gyeonggi province and Incheon – for jobs, education and, in general, a chance to improve the quality of their lives. With the country’s best schools and workplaces concentrated here – the capital area is home to the headquarters of 14 Fortune 500 companies, including the likes of Samsung and LG – the term “In-Seoul” is used to express a sense of distinction and elitism.

For some, like Kim, the promise of jobs, relationships and a social life makes moving here the sensible choice given the general lack of opportunities in farther flung regions of the country. But for others, like Noh, the capital’s problems, including suffocating pollution, skyrocketing housing prices and economic inequality worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, escape is the only choice.

But despite the city’s inviting sheen of opportunity and rich possibilities for upward mobility, there is a sense of despair that government officials are not doing more to make life better. The city has the world’s lowest birth rate and the world’s highest suicide rates.

Kim, 27, was unemployed and living with his parents in the city of Mungyeong in central North Gyeongsang province, when he moved to Seoul three years ago in the hope of landing a job in the military or government. He lives in the northern Seoul suburb of Ilsan and spends his days working various part-time jobs and studying at a social service exam prep academy to get ready for the demanding test that could determine his career fate.

A NiNaNo Planning social event on the street Youth Alley cafe anchors. Photo: Handout

Living in the capital area has exposed him to its hazards. “Driving a car and taking public transit are both uncomfortable in the city due to traffic jams that take hours.