Korea Invades the Philippines

For Koreans, the Philippines is the new Florida

They came without warning, trickling in almost unnoticed until there were too many to ignore. It seemed, all of a sudden, that South Koreans were practically everywhere in the Philippines – in malls, universities, the country’s top resorts, and even on local television shows.

By now, Koreans are in almost all of the Philippines major urban areas. From up north in the cool city of Baguio to Davao City down south in Mindanao, Korean restaurants and groceries, bearing Korean-language signs, can be seen. They have established everything, from churches, hotels and resorts to gigantic manufacturing facilities. There are even Korean-only suburbs in Cavite.

Koreans have invaded the Philippines, and Filipinos for the most part are welcoming them with open arms.

It isn’t hard to see why. Less than four hours away by plane from Seoul, the Philippines has an English-speaking population known for hospitality, a significantly lower cost of living, and some of the most postcard-perfect beaches in the world. At the same time, Koreans are bringing in buckets of dollars into the Philippines both through consumer spending and direct investments.

The numbers prove it. In 2006, Koreans took the number one spot both in tourist arrivals and foreign investment in the Philippines. More than 570,000 Koreans visited the country last year, overtaking arrivals from the US, which includes returning overseas Filipino residents and workers. On the resort island of Boracay alone, arguably the most famous tourist spot in the country, 65 percent of the visitors who enjoyed the powdery white sand last year were Koreans.

South Korea, accounting for $1.2 billion of the $3.5 billion in investments that entered the Philippines in 2006, is now also the nation’s biggest source of foreign direct investment, followed by the US and Japan. A large bulk of this figure is courtesy of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co., which is building a $1 billion shipyard – the fourth-largest in the world – inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Zambales Province north of Manila.

“The Philippines’s location and manpower makes it one of the best destinations for Korean businesses,” says Jae J. Jang, president of the Korean Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines. Around 250 large factories in special economic zones in the Philippines are Korean-owned. Koreans are also among the top investors in the tourism industry.

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