[HanCinema's News] "Decision to Leave" Highlights Situation of Chinese Immigrant Wives in South Korea

The recently released South Korean film "Decision to Leave" stars Tang Wei in a leading role as a Chinese immigrant wife. The subject matter is timely, as South Korea is seeing a steady increase in its population of Chinese immigrants. Many of them, like Tang Wei's character, work as nurses, a profession that has become increasingly dominated by such immigrants. This is especially true for those who work with older patients who suffer from dementia.

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According to figures from the Ministry of Employment and Labor, some 270,000 visas were approved for such nurses in 2021. This is a jump from only 160,000 such visas in 2017, and that number is only expected to grow as South Korea's population continues to age. Persons close to the industry say that ninety percent of these nurses are Chinese, although many of them are Chinese citizens with an ethnic Korean background.

The sheer difficulty of the work tends to drive away native Koreans from taking on such jobs. While this is also a trend for the South Korean labor market at large, nurses fulfill a relatively unique niche in that they require Korean language skills more than is necessary for, say, a factory worker. Another unique aspect of this job is that the nurses are more likely to be older women, who struggle with permanent residency requirements in the South Korean immigration system.

The South Korean immigration system tends to favor younger, more educated workers for permanent residency. Consequently, women who work as nurses are often stuck with H-2 visas for an indefinite timespan. Such women often have trouble acquiring E class visas, for long-term employment, as well as F class visas for ethnic Koreans. Consequently, many have to obtain residency through marriage visas, which are also F class visas and often the easiest for them to obtain.

Such issues are important subtext to "Decision to Leave" although there's little indication that the recently elected President Yoon has taken an interest in these issues, despite a congratulatory letter to director Park Chan-wook. There has been some movement on the bureaucratic end to help women in these situations. However, movement is slow, and may not be enough to provide sufficient nurses to deal with the impending South Korean demographic crisis.

Written by William Schwartz