According to 2025 statistics, Vietnamese residents account for the second-largest foreign resident population living in Korea. While the researches on Chinese population, the largest foreign population in Korea, have been abundantly accumulated, the s...
According to 2025 statistics, Vietnamese residents account for the second-largest foreign resident population living in Korea. While the researches on Chinese population, the largest foreign population in Korea, have been abundantly accumulated, the studies on Vietnamese residents’ characteristics and their residential concentration areas remain limited. Therefore, this study aims to examine the demographic, social, and economic characteristics of Vietnamese residents living in Suwon City and Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi-do, and to analyze their residential characteristics, their perceptions toward residential areas, and also the characteristics of Vietnamese residential concentration areas. Through this analysis, the study seeks to make policy proposals that can support their stable settlement.
For this purpose, surveys were conducted with 369 respondents from Suwon and 371 respondents from Hwaseong, along with in-depth interviews with 50 participants from each city and field surveys. The main findings are as follows.
First, the study has found that the Vietnamese residents in Korea are mostly concentrated in Gyeonggi-do among Korea’s provinces and metropolitan cities, particularly in Hwaseong and Suwon. In addition, the residents in Suwon lived near school, for educational purposes, while the residents in Hwaseong concentrated around industrial complexes for employment opportunities.
Second, the analysis of the demographic and residential characteristics of Vietnamese residents revealed clear differences between Suwon and Hwaseong. Suwon was characterized by a female and student-centered demographic structure, with a relatively high proportion of residents from Northern Vietnam, such as Hai Phong and Hanoi. In contrast, Hwaseong showed a male and worker-centered demographic structure, with a concentration of residents from Central Vietnam, such as Nghe An and Thanh Hoa.
In addition, Suwon had a higher proportion of residents aged 18 to 24, unmarried individuals, and highly educated residents, whereas Hwaseong had a higher proportion of residents aged 25 to 34 and married individuals, and was characterized by an educational structure centered on high school graduates. Regarding religion, both cities showed high proportions of non-religious residents and Buddhists, and religion was found to be helpful in the process of adapting to life in Korea. In terms of overseas experience, Hwaseong showed more diverse patterns, but both cities shared the common feature that Korea was often the respondents’ first country of overseas residence.
In terms of economic status and visa type, Suwon had a large number of students, many of whom earned a monthly income of 1 to 2 million KRW through part-time work and held student visas (D-2). In contrast, in Hwaseong, the largest proportion of respondents earned a higher monthly income of 2 to 3 million KRW, and the non-professional employment visa (E-9) was particularly prominent. Hwaseong also showed a relatively higher rate of asset ownership than Suwon. Regarding residential patterns, Suwon was characterized by short-term residence of six months to one year, single-person households, and studio-type housing, mainly around university areas such as Jangan-gu and Yeongtong-gu. In contrast, Hwaseong was characterized by medium-term residence of one to three years, shared housing, and dormitory residence, mainly near industrial complexes such as Hyangnam, Paltan, and Bongdam. In both cities, monthly rent was the most common housing tenure type. Housing costs were mainly between 300,000 and 500,000 KRW in Suwon, whereas in Hwaseong they were mostly 300,000 KRW or less.
Third, this study measured Vietnamese residents’ satisfaction with their residential areas in Suwon and Hwaseong using nine items: air quality, public safety, transportation, medical facilities, banks, post offices, modern retail facilities, traditional markets, and residents’ friendliness. The data were analyzed using SPSS. The results show that Vietnamese residents in both Suwon and Hwaseong generally expressed satisfaction with their residential areas, while only a small number of respondents reported dissatisfaction. In both cities, a gap was found between awareness and actual use of foreign resident support policies, and the overall level of understanding of these policies was low.
Fourth, Yeonmu-dong and Balan Manse Market, both Vietnamese residential concentration areas, share the common feature of functioning as everyday living spaces for Vietnamese migrants. However, they differ in terms of their formation backgrounds and the characteristics of their residential concentration. Yeonmu-dong is an old residential district located near universities, where a stable residential community has formed. In contrast, Balan Manse Market is a traditional market area based around nearby industrial complexes, where a residential concentration area characterized by active commercial activities and multicultural exchange has developed. The two areas also show different patterns in terms of the functions of Vietnamese residential concentration areas. Yeonmu-dong, as an area centered on international students, lacks sufficient physical gathering spaces. Instead, it is strongly characterized by a digital network based on information sharing and mutual support through online platforms such as Facebook. This online-based network plays an important role in the early settlement process by providing daily life information and emotional support. In contrast, the Vietnamese residential concentration area around Balan Manse Market functions as an offline-centered living community, where direct interaction takes place in various spaces such as restaurants, shops, and cafés centered on the traditional market. In particular, many commercial and service facilities operated by Vietnamese residents are distributed in the area, creating a pattern in which economic activities and daily life services circulate within the Vietnamese residential concentration area. Differences also appear in leisure activities and the formation of social relationships. In Yeonmu-dong, organized activities are limited due to the study-centered lifestyle of international students, whereas in Balan Manse Market, active exchange takes place through commercial spaces, contributing to the formation of strong settlement ties.
This study showed that Vietnamese migrants' perceptions of their residential environment may operate differently from local community discourses or macro-level indicators. It also reinterpreted Vietnamese residential concentration areas not simply as residential spaces, but as socio-spatial phenomena in which social networks, everyday life, and economic activities are combined.
Yeonmu-dong in Suwon showed a mixed residential pattern with Korean residents, whereas Balan Manse Market in Hwaseong displayed a multinational concentration pattern where migrants of various nationalities intersect. This research is significant in that it fills the research gap in the previous studies that concentrated on Chinese residents, or relatively larger provincial and metropolitan scale, and also, because it clarifies the characteristics of Vietnamese migrants' settlements on the city level. Furthermore, this study can provide basic data for establishing locally tailored multicultural policies that take into account migrants’ lived experiences and subjective spatial perceptions.