SEOUL (Bernama-Yonhap): The number of foreign workers in South Korea surpassed 1.1 million in 2025 to reach a record high, with the proportion of employed international students also sharply up, a survey showed, Yonhap News Agency reported.
As of May, there were 1.69 million foreigners aged 15 or older residing in Korea, up 8.4 per cent from a year earlier, according to the survey conducted by the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
Among them, more than 1.1 million people were employed, rising 9.8 per cent on-year. The figure was the highest since the ministry began compiling such data in 2017.
Of those employed, the number of international students jumped by 23,000, or 71.8 per cent, to 56,000 as the overall number of students coming to study in Korea increased amid the global popularity of Korean culture and government policies to attract more international students.
The number of non-professional workers rose 6.1 per cent to 321,000 and professional workers climbed 25.7 per cent to 82,000, while the number of workers with permanent residence visas went up 17.1 per cent to 123,000.
By nationality, there were 341,000 Chinese nationals with ethnic Korean background working here, 149,000 Vietnamese workers and 54,000 Chinese workers.
By age, some 33 per cent of foreign workers here were in their 30s, followed by 25.7 per cent aged between 15 and 29, and 18.7 per cent in their 40s.
Nearly 45 per cent of all foreign workers in Korea were in the manufacturing and mining industries, while 20.4 per cent were in the retail, wholesale, accommodation and food services sectors.
Some nine per cent had jobs in the agro-fisheries sector and another nine per cent had jobs in the construction sector.
The employment rate of foreigners came to 65.5 per cent this year, up 0.8 percentage point from 2024, while the unemployment rate also added 0.7 percentage point to 6.4 per cent.
More than half of foreign wage workers received an average monthly salary of between 2 million won (US$1,353) and 3 million won, while 36.9 per cent had a monthly wage of over 3 million won.
Nearly 70 per cent of the wage workers said they were satisfied with their job here.
Meanwhile, the number of foreigners aged 15 or above granted naturalisation in Korea stood at 52,000 this year, up 1,000 from 2024, according to the survey. – Bernama-Yonhap
