Foreign workers breathe life into Ulsan's Dong District

Hosting foreign workers was the solution to reviving Ulsan's Dong District, with its population expected to increase even more as local shipbuilders plan to hire even more foreign workforce.

Flower Rock Sea Sound Road in Bangeo-dong in Dong District, Ulsan [KIM YOUN-HO]

Foreign workers are bringing energy to Ulsan's Dong District, with the district's population expected to grow even larger as local shipbuilders plan to recruit more overseas workers.

Flower Rock Sea Sound Road, a 2-kilometer (1.24-mile) road near Bangeo-dong in Dong District, Ulsan, was a near-empty road until early this year.

The area, now the Itaewon of Ulsan, has changed dramatically, filled with international restaurants and foreigners.

Navruz, an Uzbek restaurant selling lamb skewers and Shalimar, a supermarket specializing in selling halal meat, are just some of the few venues people can find near the street.

"I often visit here with my foreign co-workers to buy food and groceries, sometimes having a drink to cope with the loneliness of living abroad," a Vietnamese worker in his 20s said."

The increasing international population can be attributed to the nearby shipbuilding companies hiring foreign workers. Companies such as HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries have their shipyards in Dong District near the street.

Foreign workers pass by Flower Rock Sea Sound Road in Ulsan. [KIM YOUN-HO]

"The Flower Rock Sea Sound Road was almost considered to be dead, but everything changed after the number of foreign workers increased," a spokesperson for the Dong District Office said.

This year, as of July, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries hired 1,140 foreign workers. It plans to hire another 1,000 by the end of the year.

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard hired 610 during the same period, and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries hired 781.

The move to recruit more foreign workers follows the government's decision to boost visa quotas.

In January, the Ministry of Justice said it will increase the E-7 skilled worker visa quota to 35,000 this year, compared to last year's 2,000.

Because of the increase, 5,209 new foreign workers started working in the shipbuilding industry between January and June.

With more hirings, more people are also settling down in Dong District. There were 6,143 foreigners living in the region as of July, up 74 percent on year.

Most of the foreigners are from countries such as Vietnam, China, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Indonesia and Thailand.

The increase in foreigners is steeper than the rise in the overall population. There were 158,191 people living in the region as of July, edging up 1.35 percent on year.

With the changes, Dong District sees better population prospects.

Dong District was designated as a "depopulation area" by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade in November last year, a designation for areas that score between 0.5 and 0.75 on the regional extinction risk index.

The index divides the number of women aged between 20 and 39 by the number of those aged 65 or above.

Although its overall population only increased by 1.35 percent on year, it was the only region in Ulsan that saw a population increase during the period.

Further support from the local government to attract more foreign workers is also on the way.

In June, Dong District created a task force that consists of officials from the local police, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Human Resources Development Service of Korea and local companies.

The task force will focus on providing help regarding any difficulties foreigners face.

The district is also planning on leasing district-owned houses with lower rent to those who newly move to the area. Plans to create a labor support center, which offers legal employment advice, in the district are also underway.

"We are working to improve the working environment of shipbuilding workshops for the international workers and build an electric vehicle parts manufacturing facility by lifting development restrictions through discussions with Ulsan city," Kim Jong-hoon, the representative for Dong District at the Ulsan Metropolitan Council, said.

"We expect the population to rise even more when those projects are completed."

BY KIM YOUN-HO, LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]