This file photo taken Oct. 13, 2018, shows a street parade of foreign residents in South Korea during an international festival in Seoul’s Itaewon district. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of individuals from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries who stayed in South Korea last year marked a positive year to year growth, data showed Wednesday.
According to the ASEAN-Korea Centre, the number of people belonging to ASEAN’s ten member countries who stayed in Asia’s fourth-largest economy last year stood at 651,281, up 21 percent year on year.
Among them, the number of short-term sojourners with visas such as B-1, B-2, C-1, C-3, and C-4 and the number of workers with E or D-3 visas stood at 233,882 and 203,916, respectively, accounting for 67 percent of the total.
By ASEAN country, Vietnam came on top with 235,007 or 36 percent of the total, followed by Thailand with 201,681 or 31 percent.
According to the Korea Tourism Organization, the number of ASEAN tourists to South Korea stood at 1,003,000 last year, a more than threefold increase compared to 2021 when the pandemic was at its height.
Data from the Korea Customs Service shows that bilateral trade between South Korea and ASEAN countries totaled US$207.5 billion last year, up 17.5 percent from a year ago.
By country, the nation’s trade with Vietnam ranked first at $87.7 billion, or 42.3 percent of the total.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
