"Can't Live Without Immigrants, But Cut Them?" Why More Countries Are Closing Their Doors

"Cut 750,000!" Australia's hard-right political party One Nation recently unveiled a plan to achieve "negative net migration."

Beyond Australia, a simultaneous trend is emerging in advanced nations like the United States and European countries, where political forces are strengthening regulations on immigrants or advocating for immigration restrictions.

Behind this are the pressures of housing prices and rents, public services such as hospitals and schools, and the cost of living.

As these problems overlapped with a period of rapid growth in the immigrant population, immigration has emerged as a key political agenda explaining economic discontent and life pressures.

However, reducing immigrants creates another set of problems.

This is because industries already dependent on foreign labor, such as healthcare, agriculture, construction, and caregiving, could be shaken.

The "immigration dilemma" where accepting immigrants is problematic and reducing them is also problematic—why is it appearing simultaneously in advanced nations right now?

And what questions does it pose for South Korea, which is aging at an even faster rate?

(Produced by SBS Digital News | Written by Sim Yeong-gu | Edited by Lee Ki-eun | Design by Cho Seung-hyun | Assistance by Kim Chae-hyun | Production: Knowledge Contents IP Team)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.