Last week, my Korean language classmates learned about my new venture into a Korean startup. They were so excited about it, they were asking me to move to Korea. The exact words were, “Go, go! You should go!” I wasn’t sure if I should rejoice at their support. It felt like I was being chased away, even though they were constantly asking everyone to move to Korea at every opportunity. One of them married a Korean recently and everyone was so excited about her impending move to Korea, they were constantly asking if she had decided when to move. A few others who married Koreans were also asked a few times if they would ever move to Korea for good. I guess that’s what happens when you’re surrounded by Korea-lovers.
But this support as well as the opportunity I see at the company is making me weigh a lot of options now. I could try to apply for permanent residency in Japan now, and then move to Korea for a bit if it gets approved. But there comes a lot of other questions like whether I get to retain my PR status if I no longer live here albeit just for a couple of years; whether I require an address here even though my departure is only temporary; whether I have to continue paying pension, insurance, residence tax, etc. If the PR will be cancelled as soon as I no longer live here, then that gives me no reason to apply for it and ample reason to depart within the next year since staying longer wouldn’t change anything.
These are things I have to find out before I make my next move.
