To Leave or Not to Leave  By Jennifer Veale Since December,
1997, South Korea has done a far better job than most of its
neighbors in lifting itself out of the Asian economic crisis.
But that didn't stop some 16,000 Koreans from leaving the
country last year, looking for better lives. More than half of
last year's expatriates landed in Canada. A third went to the
U.S., and a trickle left for Australia and New Zealand. Though
the numbers represent only a tiny portion of Korea's 47 million
citizens, officials worry about a brain drain, since many of the
applicants are white-collar workers with engineering, computer-
programming, and finance backgrounds.  Many other Koreans who
applied to leave during the downturn are only now receiving
permission. And that poses a huge dilemma for many of them, now
that the financial crisis is waning. The lure of the outside
world is great. But family ties and attachment to the homeland
tug them to remain at home. Doubts remain, but many Koreans
continue to believe the world's 1