Fewer People Move from One Part of Korea to Another
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Population migration in Korea slowed to the lowest level since 1975 in May as the population of mobile young people dwindled.
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Statistics Korea on Thursday said 589,000 people moved to different parts of the country last month, down for the third straight month. The smallest number in May was 480,000 in 1975, and the biggest was 1.1 million in 1988.
Statistics Korea said great numbers of labor moved from the countryside to the cities until the 1980s, while the 1990s saw the start of a gradual migration out of Seoul.
But as the gap in living standards between rural and urban areas narrowed thanks to transportation and communication, migration appears to have stabilized .
Seoul saw the largest net outflow in population at 11,958. Since a net influx of 2,300 people in February 2009, the capital's population has been shrinking and is now below 10 million at 9.996 million.
The southern port city of Busan and Daegu in North Gyeongsang Province also saw a net outflow to the tune of 1,179 and 1,191 people.