About 300 South Koreans emigrated last year, the lowest number since the government began compiling such data in 1962, according to the foreign ministry. Nearly 80 percent of them, or 239 people, migrated to the United States, while 23 went to Canada and 18 went to Australia, according to the data. A total of 173 people left South Korea to join relatives while 104 left for job reasons, the data showed.