For this mom, moving to work in South Korea felt like a 'full-circle moment' — even if it came with one sacrifice

• Motolani Adedipe moved from the US to South Korea for a year, bringing her two kids and mother with her.
• She became interested in the country's culture and history after living with a Korean roommate.
• Living abroad with family has brought them all closer together.

When Motolani Adedipe moved from Oklahoma to Seoul, South Korea, in August, she didn't just pack her suitcase — she brought along her 6-year-old daughter, newborn baby, and mom.

Adedipe, who is from Nigeria and moved to the US to attend grad school in Texas, first grew curious about South Korea while interning at a biotech firm in Boston, where she shared an apartment with a Korean roommate.

"For that summer, I ate a lot of Korean food. She put me on K-dramas," Adedipe, now 39, told Business Insider. That early curiosity soon grew into an interest in Korea's history, economy, and language.

Adedipe began learning Korean nine years ago online and continued after she moved to Oklahoma for work, where she became an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

In September 2024, Adedipe applied for a Fulbright scholarship to extend her research in prostate cancer survivorship. She already knew she wanted to go to South Korea — even as she prepared to give birth to her second child that November.

She made it through the first review in December, but when months passed with no update, she figured she hadn't made it. So when the acceptance came through in April, the moment felt surreal.

"It was like the best news and almost the worst news at the same time. Best because finally I get to do this. But of course, the anxiety, how do we start planning now?" Adedipe said.

Thankfully, her family was supportive, especially her husband.

"It required faith, sacrifice, structure, and for both of us to really imagine a life that looked very different from what we had planned," she said.

Moving to Seoul

Her physician husband couldn't accompany her to South Korea, but they agreed that she would bring both daughters along.

"How many of her peers would ever say, 'Oh, I took a gap year in Korea'?" she said, referring to their 6-year-old.

Knowing the scholarship would last just one year made the decision easier. Her husband has visited them in South Korea several times and plans to make more trips over the coming months.

"I saw it as an opportunity for my children to experience another culture, language, and way of life, while still having a clear sense of return," Adedipe said.

Now, she homeschools her daughter in the morning before sending her to a "hagwon," a type of private academy that many Korean students attend after school.

"Not all of her friends speak English, so they kind of communicate through play," she said.

Adedipe's mom, who had traveled to Oklahoma to help out with the kids, joined them in Seoul.

As she searched for housing, Adedipe had a long checklist: enough space for her family, easy access to the subway, flat streets her mother, in her early 60s, could navigate, and a neighborhood that felt safe for kids.

She found a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in Mapo-gu, a district in western Seoul home to several universities.

Although the apartment was smaller than she initially hoped for, it turned out to be a great fit: It's surrounded by greenery and about a 30-minute commute to her workplace.

Her scholarship includes a housing stipend that covers her rent, which she declined to share.

Per the latest December data from the Korea Real Estate Board, the median monthly rent for an apartment in Mapo-gu is 1.39 million Korean won, or about $940.

Adedipe says her schedule varies from week to week, but her work typically starts in the afternoons. She goes into her office at Seoul National University Hospital several times a week, while continuing to supervise her lab in Oklahoma remotely at night.

Forging closer relationships with her loved ones

Data from the Ministry of Justice showed that the number of foreigners living in South Korea at the end of 2024 stood at 2.65 million, a 5.7% increase from the previous year.

A US veteran who had retired in South Korea previously told Business Insider that he appreciated the country's safety and culture of respect. Meanwhile, a millennial who moved from Switzerland to Seoul said she valued the convenience of city life, including how most stores stay open late.

One of the biggest adjustments, Adedipe said, has been the extent to which technology is deeply woven into daily life in Seoul. Nearly everything is tied to having a registered phone number.

"Once I got my card and I got a bank account and I got a phone number that was registered, life became easy," she said.

Even though the city is known for its fast-paced lifestyle, Adedipe says she's been surprised by its human side.

"I lost my stylus in the bus, and I was able to get it back. It was tagged, and they verified they found it. That could never happen in the US," she said.

Watching her daughter flourish and adapt to their life in Seoul has been especially meaningful.

"Now that I'm seeing where she's shining. My goal is to keep encouraging her to find her passion in life and do that," she said.

In addition to learning Korean, her daughter takes part in extracurricular activities, such as piano, inline skating, and Taekwondo.

"She's doing everything that I never could have been able to give her because in Oklahoma, if you're doing all those classes, you have to drive your kids to all those classes," she said. "But here in Korea, because of how the education is structured, she does all of that in a school, and she loves it."

Living abroad with her mother has brought them closer. After leaving Nigeria for the US in her 20s, Adedipe went nearly eight years without seeing her mom because of visa issues.

"And now that I get to live with her again, it's like a dream come true," she said.

Looking back on her own experience, Adedipe says living and working in South Korea has felt like a "full circle moment," after years of interest in the country.

"It felt like all the pieces of my life — research, storytelling, culture, and well-being — were suddenly being invited into the same room," she said.

Do you have a story to share about relocating to a new city? Contact this reporter at agoh@businessinsider.com.