The role of Korea in international migration continues to expand. In 2016, the number of migrants admitted into Korea for a permanent stay reached 95 000 (+17% compared to 2015). Of those permanent migrants, most (55%) were ethnic Koreans; while family migrants represented 44%, labour migrants were only 1.3%. The number of temporary migrants admitted rose from 180 000 in 2015 to 184 000 in 2016, among whom 108 000 were workers and 27 000 were students.
The stock of foreign residents in Korea has been steadily increasing and at the end of 2016 it reached 2.05 million, 4% of the national population. The number of long-staying resident migrants increased from 1.47 million at the end of 2015 to 1.53 million one year later. The number of ethnic Koreans (22% of the foreign residents) increased by 5% compared to 2014, with the number of other registered foreigners up by 13%. The main nationalities of foreign residents were Chinese (49%), Vietnamese (7%) and American (7%).
In 2016, there were 342 000 foreigners holding residence permits for employment, a slight increase from 2015 (339 000). The top three nationalities of new labour migrants were Cambodian, Nepalese and Vietnamese. In 2016, the number of low skilled workers entering with an employment permit (E‑9) was 60 000, up from 51 000 the previous year. Overall, 279 000 E‑9 non-professional visa holders were registered in 2016, mainly working in manufacturing. The number of skilled and professional migrant workers, which has been slowly decreasing since 2013, fell by 2% to 47 700 in 2016. The most common entry channels were for foreign language instructors (E-2) and special activities (E‑7), accounting respectively for 15 500 (32% of total skilled migrants) and 21 500 persons (45%).
The stock of ethnic Koreans on work-visit visas (H-2) reached 255 000 in 2016, down from 285 000 in 2015. Of these, 48 000 entered Korea in 2016. This marked a 13% decrease in the inflow, following the 28% decline in 2015. Fewer ethnic Koreans came from China and more had obtained the visa status of Overseas Korean Residents (F‑4); the number of F-4 holders rose to 373 000 from 328 000.
A points system for selecting low-skilled workers (for an E‑9 visa) piloted in 2016 was expanded in 2017. Points are based on Korean linguistic proficiency, work experience and occupation-related skill levels.
The quotas for entries of foreign workers under the E‑9 programme are divided into new workers and returning workers and by sectors of employment. New worker quotas totalled 46 000 in 2016, 43 000 in 2017 and 45 000 in 2018. The quota of returning workers –for a second five-year contract – was 12 000 in 2016, 13 000 in 2017 and 11 000 in 2018. The main sector of employment is manufacturing, which accounts for about three-fourths of the allotment of foreign workers.
A pilot seasonal worker programme was introduced in 2015 and expanded in 2016/17. The programme allows foreign residents and local authorities in certain areas to sponsor friends and relatives from their home countries to work for up to three months in seasonal agricultural activities.
Over the past decade, the number of foreigners holding a residence permit for study increased threefold to reach 116 000 in 2016, of whom 27 300 arrived that same year. Their composition has changed over time. The number of foreign students holding permits for degree programmes rose from 60 500 in 2013 to 76 000 in 2016. The number of foreigners with permits to take language courses was 40 000 in 2016. Chinese nationals accounted for 58% of all student permit holders in 2016, followed by Vietnamese (13%) and Mongolians (5%).
The total number of foreign marriage migrants residing in Korea reached 152 400 in 2016, most of them women. China was the main country of origin for foreign spouses (59%), followed by Viet Nam (41%), Japan (13%) and the Philippines (11%).
In 2016, the total number of unauthorised migrants who had overstayed their visas fell slightly to 209 000.
Asylum applications, which numbered in the hundreds annually in the 2000s, have risen. Applications totalled 5 700 in 2015, 7 100 in 2016 and 2 000 in the first trimester of 2017. In total, about 200 applicants were recognised as refugees in 2015/2016 and 740 were granted stay on humanitarian grounds. The main origin countries in this period were Pakistan, Egypt and China.
In naturalisation policy, the income requirement for general naturalisation was doubled from KRW 30M to KRW 60M. There were 14 200 naturalisations in 2014 and 13 500 in 2015.
In 2017, the minimum educational qualification for the technology start-up visa was lowered from a Bachelor-level degree to a two-year degree. To increase participation, in 2016 Korea launched a competition, the K-StartUp Grand Challenge which awards financial and business support – including visa support – for promising start-ups ranking high in the competition.
