Past Refugee application trends (Image courtesy of Ministry of Justice)
SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea has received 122,095 refugee applications since implementing its refugee program in 1994, with only 1,544 individuals being granted refugee status — an approval rate of 2.7% — according to statistics released by the Ministry of Justice on February 3.
The country began accepting refugee applications in March 1994 after joining the UN Refugee Convention and Protocol in 1992. While there were only 5,069 cumulative applications from 1994 to 2012, numbers increased significantly after the implementation of the Refugee Act in 2013, which established regulations for refugee status and treatment.
Annual applications reached 18,837 in 2023 and 18,336 in 2024, approximately twelve times higher than the 1,574 applications received in 2013. However, approval numbers have remained relatively stable, with 105 approvals in 2024 and 101 in 2023, comparable to 98 in 2016 and 121 in 2017.
The Ministry of Justice explained that South Korea’s low approval rate cannot be directly compared to European countries due to complex factors including geographic accessibility and historical-cultural similarities. Many applicants come from countries not typically associated with major refugee crises such as Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, Ukraine, or South Sudan.
Russians constitute the largest group of applicants at 15%, followed by Kazakhstan (10.7%), China (9.1%), Pakistan (6.7%), and India (6.4%). Political opinion was the most common reason cited for seeking refugee status, followed by religious persecution, membership in particular social groups, race, family reunification, and nationality.
About 42% of applications cited reasons not covered by the Refugee Convention, such as economic motivations or private threats.
Approximately 9.4% of total applications, or 11,409 cases, were resubmitted by individuals who remained in the country after their initial rejections. Over the past five years, an average of 82% of rejected applicants filed lawsuits challenging the decisions.
The Ministry of Justice noted that current refugee law places no restrictions on application timing or frequency, resulting in refugee cases comprising 18% of administrative lawsuits and 34% of administrative appeals.
The average processing time is 14 months for initial screening, 17.9 months for appeals, and 22.4 months for administrative litigation — totaling over four years for the complete process.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
