This Nov. 6, 2025, file photo shows foreign students taking part in an international day festival at Ajou University in Suwon, south of Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of foreigners staying in South Korea for 90 days or longer for work or study has exceeded 1.6 million as of November, with about half of them living in the greater Seoul area, data showed Saturday.
The figure, which came in at 1.1 million in 2021 and 1.3 million in 2023, has been on the rise, according to the monthly data compiled by the justice ministry. It marked an 8 percent increase from November last year.
By area, 54 percent of registered foreigners were residing in the greater Seoul area, with 54,584 living in Hwaseong, 42,158 in Siheung and 38,398 in Ansan, which are all located in southern Gyeonggi Province.
By nationality, 29.8 percent were Chinese, followed by 18.4 percent who were from Vietnam, 5.5 percent from Nepal, 4.3 percent from Uzbekistan and 4.1 percent from Cambodia.
Registered foreigners refer to foreigners who have applied to stay in South Korea for 90 days or longer. They are eligible to receive foreign registration cards and have to report within 14 days should they change their area of residence.
Foreign workers wearing traditional Vietnamese conical hats harvest potatoes (Yonhap)
(Yonhap)
