The Statistics Korea report showed that as of May, the resident foreign population aged 15 and older totaled 1.561 million, a 9.1 percent increase from a year earlier. Among them, 1.01 million were employed, up 9.4 percent year-on-year.
The steady rise in foreign employment reflects expanded work visa quotas. Growth slowed during the COVID-19 pandemic but rebounded last year with an increase in non-skilled labor (E-9) visa quotas.
By nationality, ethnic Chinese Koreans led with 341,000 workers, followed by Vietnamese nationals at 123,000.
By visa category, non-skilled workers accounted for the largest share (302,000), followed by overseas Koreans (258,000) and permanent residents (105,000).
Manufacturing and mining jobs attracted nearly half of the foreign workforce, totaling 461,000 workers. Wholesale, retail, hospitality, and food services followed with 191,000, while 144,000 were employed in business and public services.
Temporary and daily positions accounted for 34.4 percent of all foreign wage earners (329,000), significantly higher than the national average of 26 percent.
Most foreign wage earners reported monthly salaries between 2 million and 3 million won ($1,390–$2,090), while 354,000 earned more than 3 million won.
Despite the increase in employment, 17.4 percent of foreign residents reported experiencing discrimination in the past year due to factors like nationality and Korean language ability. However, only 15.3 percent sought redress, and fewer than 40 percent found their efforts effective.
Meanwhile, the number of naturalized citizens aged 15 and older remained unchanged at 51,000, with 34,000 employed—similar to last year’s figures.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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