Foreign residents gave the highest score for Seoul's public transportation system and air quality, according to the city's recent survey.
Ethnically, the Chinese population showed the greatest satisfaction of life in Seoul.
They gave 76 points for the city's environment, including the above-mentioned two factors.
Safety came second in their satisfaction list with 74.4 points, followed by the social environment with 71.7 points and education with 69.7 points.
They cited difficulty in communication as the greatest challenge, giving it 61.7 points.
The Seoul Institute, which was responsible for the survey, said Sunday that the city averaged about 70 points out of the perfect 100.
The survey was conducted last October from a sample of 2,500 foreign residents in the capital city.
The survey also showed the Chinese were the most content ethnic group, giving their life quality in Seoul 73.4 points. Chinese, with ethnic Koreans included, are the largest foreign group in Seoul.
Japanese residents were the least satisfied group, giving only 56.7 points.
Korea-Japan relations have been rocky lately due to political differences, and the public sentiment toward each other is becoming more negative.
The survey result didn't elaborate on what appealed the most to the Chinese population and what appealed least to the Japanese.
Many respondents said Seoul is an expensive place to live also.
This opinion was particularly strong among Vietnamese and other Asians who answered that living expenses in the capital were at least 1.5 times more expensive compared to where they came from. Europeans and North American respondents said the living expenses in Seoul were either similar to their home cities or slightly cheaper.
The survey results came amid the city government's endeavor to raise Seoul's international profile. The city has been trying to improve the city's social and environmental infrastructure and increase services designed for foreign residents. The survey result showed what to improve further.
The population of foreign residents in Seoul was approximately 265,000 as of last year, accounting for almost 3 percent of the city's entire population. The Chinese population was the highest number, followed by Vietnamese, the Philippines, Japanese and Americans.
Korean Language
서울 거주 중국인 '삶의 질 만족도' 최고…일본인 꼴찌
서울살이 외국인의 만족도는 중국인이 가장 양호했고 일본인은 최저치를 기록했다.
외국인들은 주거환경과 도시안전에 만족하지만, 의사소통에는 상대적으로 불만을 느꼈다.
서울시 산하 연구기관인 서울연구원은 지난해 10월 서울에 사는 외국인 2천500명을 조사한 결과를 24일 발표했다. 이들은 삶의 질에 대해 100점 만점에 평균 69.7점을 매겼다.
주거환경 만족도는 76.0점으로 가장 높았다. 이어 도시안전(74.4점), 사회환경(71.7점), 교육환경(69.7점) 등 순이었다.
대중교통과 대기환경 덕분에 주거환경 만족도가 높은 것으로 분석됐다.
의사소통 만족도는 61.7점으로 다른 항목보다 낮았다.
삶의 질 만족도는 국적별로 차이가 있었다. 중국인들은 73.4점으로 가장 높았다. 일본인들은 56.7점으로 평균보다 훨씬 낮았다. 유럽권과 영미권, 베트남, 대만 국적 외국인들은 평균과 비슷했다.
외국인들의 체감 물가는 매우 높은 편이었다. 출신국 물가를 100으로 봤을 때 서울은 평균 132.3% 수준이라고 답했다.
베트남(155.9%)과 기타 아시아권(167.2%) 주민들이 물가 수준을 가장 높게 평가했다. 영미권(104.8%)과 유럽권(101%) 출신들은 자국과 서울 수준이 비슷하다고 느꼈다. (연합뉴스)