No. of foreigners in S. Korea hits record high of 2.73 mln in June: data
The number of foreigners or ethnic Koreans with foreign citizenship living in South Korea has reached a record high of 2.73 million, with one in three being Chinese, government data showed Sunday, Yonhap reports.
The number of registered foreigners in the country came to 1.56 million as of end-June, with that of Koreans holding foreign citizenship and staying here reaching 552,419, according to immigration data from the Ministry of Justice.
The number of foreigners on short-term stays, including tourists, stood at 620,403, the data showed.
The number of foreign residents in South Korea had reached a previous record of 2.52 million in 2019 before falling sharply to 1.96 million in 2021 in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The number rebounded to 2.51 million in 2023 before reaching a new high of 2.65 million at the end of last year.
Compared with the previous month, the latest number marks a 1.5 percent increase.
By nationality, Chinese nationals accounted for 35.6 percent of the total, or 972,176 people, followed by Vietnamese at 341,153, Americans 196,664, Thais 173,710 and Uzbeks at 98,457.
More than half of the foreigners lived in Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area, while the rest lived in the central Chungcheong region and the country's southern provinces.
Nearly half of them were aged between 20 and 39.
About 20 percent of the foreigners were staying on F-4 visas issued to overseas Koreans, while roughly 12 percent held E-9 visas for non-professional workers. Others included holders of F-5 permanent residency visas, D-2 student visas and B-2 tourist visas.
Earlier, it was reported that 15.3 million foreigners visited Kazakhstan in 2024.
