March 4, 2025
SEOUL – The number of foreign nationals in South Korea has surpassed 5 percent of the country’s registered population, marking an all-time high, according to data released by the Ministry of Justice on Monday.
The number of foreign nationals here both short- and long-term grew to over 2.65 million by the end of 2024, while Korea’s total registered population decreased to around 51.2 million in the same time frame. The total population is calculated by the number of people registered in the Ministry of Interior and Safety’s residence system as of December 2024.
In other words, the proportion of foreign nationals here compared to the registered population in South Korea rose to more than 5.1 percent, according to Justice Ministry data.
This all-time high exceeds the prepandemic figure of 2.52 million in 2019, when the country last saw a record-high number of foreign nationals here, according to official data presented by the Ministry of Justice on Monday.
The proportion of foreign nationals in the total population declined from 4.87 percent in 2019 to 3.79 percent in 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, before bouncing back to 4.89 percent in 2023.
Among the 2.65 million foreign nationals here, 77 percent of the people (2.04 million) are classed long-term residents, meaning they are in the country for more than 3 months adn are requred to register with the Korea Immigration Service. It was the first time the year had ended with more than 2 million foreign residents in the country.
The remaining 23 percent are the short-term visitors, such as tourists.
According the Justice Ministry, a short-term resident refers to a foreign national who enters the country for a stay of 90 days or less without registering, whereas a long-term resident refers to an individual who enters the country and registers to live here for 91 days or more. Both types were included in the 2.65 million figure.
In particular, Chinese nationals accounted for the largest portion in the 2.65 million figure with almost 960,000 people, followed by Vietnamese (305,936), Thai (188,770), US (170,251) and Uzbekistan nationals (94,893).
Among the 2.04 million foreign residents, about 50 percent are in their 20s and 30s. While the proportion of those in their 40s was about 15 percent.
More than 1.27 million were living in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, according to the ministry’s data.
International students up 16.5 percent
The immigration authorities also said the number of international students saw a steady increase over the past five years from 153,361 in 2020 to 263,775 at the end of last year, a 16.5 percent rise from 2023 record of 226,507 foreign students.
The ministry added that 178,519 foreign nationals were in the country to study for degree programs, while 85,256 were in South Korea for short-term study, including Korean language programs.
The number of residents who were in the country illegally fell 6.2 percent on-year, to 397,522 at the end of 2024, according to the ministry.
Refugee acceptance rate remains low
Meanwhile, the ministry received a total of 18,336 new refugee applications and reviewed 5,610 cases in 2024.
The office granted refugee status to 105 people and “humanitarian stay permits” to 101 people, meaning that it refused asylum in more than 96 percent of cases that were decided on.
Humanitarian stay permits are granted when asylum seekers fail to meet the criteria for official refugee status but are allowed to stay in the country for a set period as they face serious threats if deported.
The largest number of people granted refugees status last year came from Egypt, at 39 people. This was followed by Myanmar, with 24 people. People from Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi followed, with less than 10 people granted refugee status in each case.
Those granted humanitarian stay permits were from Haiti, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen.
The ministry emphasized the need of immigration policies to attract international students and other essential foreign talent, turning them into a driving force for national growth. It also added that securing public consensus on balancing immigration and social integration are crucial.