As of May of this year, 1.225 million foreigners 15 years old or above had been in South Korea for at least 91 days. (Image: Yonhap)
SEJONG, Dec. 21 (Korea Bizwire) – As of May of this year, 1.225 million foreigners 15 years old or above had been in South Korea for at least 91 days. Of this group, 53,000 had been approved for a second duration of stay in the previous five years (returned individuals).
The economically active population of foreigners and returned individuals was 869,000 (70.9 percent of 1.225 million) and 36,000 (67.6 percent), respectively.
A total of 834,000 foreigners were employed, and 800,000 from this group were salaried workers.
Comprising 46.9 percent of the 800,000 salaried workers, 375,000 earned salaries somewhere from 2 to 3 million won per month, the largest group. The next largest (38.7 percent, 309,000) earned between 1 and 2 million won.
Out of the 1.225 million foreign residents, 32.2 percent had an average monthly income of 2 million won, and 35.3 percent of all returned individuals had an average monthly income of 1 million won.
Roughly 80 percent of employed foreign workers and returned individuals found work in the manufacturing, retail and wholesale/dining/accommodations and private business/public enterprise sectors. (Image: Yonhap)
The proportion of those without income was high for each group, at 23.4 percent of all foreign residents and 31.3 percent of returned individuals.
Job satisfaction was found to be high among employed foreign workers, with 39.5 percent saying they were “somewhat satisfied”, and 21.4 percent answering that they were “very satisfied”.
Only a combined 6.4 percent of answers consisted of “somewhat dissatisfactory” and “very dissatisfactory”.
Roughly 80 percent of employed foreign workers and returned individuals found work in the manufacturing, retail and wholesale/dining/accommodations and private business/public enterprise sectors.
Of the employed foreign workers, 43.7 percent were Korean-Chinese, 7.9 percent were Vietnamese and 6 percent were Chinese. For returned individuals, the majority were Korean-Chinese (37.6 percent) and Vietnamese (33.7 percent).
Job satisfaction was found to be high among employed foreign workers, with 39.5 percent saying they were “somewhat satisfied”, and 21.4 percent answering that they were “very satisfied”. (Image: Yonhap)
The government report also revealed that many foreign workers did not have full social security (national pension, industry accident compensation insurance, employment insurance and national medical insurance). In addition, 11.6 percent reported suffering from financial difficulties in the past year, and 44.6 percent revealed that they had foregone trips to the hospital or medical clinic because they felt they could not afford it.
S.B.W. (sbw266@koreabizwire.com)
