Gyeonggi: A Great Place for Foreign Residents in Korea

Gyeonggi, making every effort to become a pleasant, trustworthy place for every foreign resident. How does the province do its utmost to achieve it?

Support from the Gyeonggi Housing and Urban Development Corporation

If you are unsure about where to live in Gyeonggi Province, the Gyeonggi Housing and Urban Development Corporation (GH) is here to help you! Founded in 1997, the corporation fosters balanced development throughout the 31 cities and counties of Gyeonggi and offers support in the arrangement of accommodations for residents without requiring loans.

New planned towns in Gyeonggi-do will keep their historical, cultural, and ecological values
ⓒGyeonggi Province

As GH values the balanced development of all areas in Gyeonggi, it plays a pivotal role in creating planned towns and combining living areas and cultural facilities in accordance with guidance from the central government. These new planned towns, carefully selected and crafted by GH, include Gwanggyo New City, Namyangju Dasan New City, and Dongtan New Town II. Furthermore, GH prioritizes the development of rental housing options at affordable prices, such as the Gyeonggi Happy Apartments and Haetsal Housing.

In addition to the administration of residential land development, GH also cultivates industrial complexes and urban spaces so as to enhance the welfare of residents in the province. The Goyang Broadcasting Valley and Pangyo Techno Valley II are two prime examples of how GH shapes the industrial and residential trends of Gyeonggi Province.

Gyeonggi: An Ideal Home for Foreign Residents

In 2020, Gyeonggi Province produced the largest number of winners of the Foreign Resident Settlement Support Awards among local autonomies in the country.

Among this year's winners, the honor of the presidential award was given to the Hwaseong Foreign Welfare Center on the 13th Together Day. The center contributed greatly to the development of social amalgamation through the operation of various programs for foreign residents, including counseling, Korean language education, vocational training, and multicultural guidance.

Since 2019, the province has been operating the Foreigner Policy Division, which has a mandate to address diverse administrative matters as more and more foreigners choose to live in the province. Of particular note, this division pursues a broad range of public-private cooperation initiatives such as foreign policy advisory groups and foreign policy forums.

Gyeonggi-do has established a foreign policy department dedicated to foreigner-related tasks since 2019

Gyeonggi-do’s Policy for Foreigner Settlement

Gyeonggi Province recently announced that it will propel projects to improve stability in social acceptance and living benefits for foreign residents in the province. This year's projects, in particular, include support for foreign resident settlement.

Although large-scale events are currently infeasible due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the province has plans for cultural events and photo exhibitions to foster greater multicultural awareness, as well as medical, legal and labor counseling services to enhance community integration.

Through these efforts, Gyeonggi is committing itself to the successful settlement of 600,000 foreign residents in the province.