Foreign population in Korea reaches 1.9 million

The number of foreign residents in South Korea reached 1.9 million this year, with a steady increase in the number of Chinese nationals, government data showed Monday.

The number of foreigners living in South Korea reached 1.94 million as of March, up 4.7 percent from a month earlier and 7.2 percent from March 2015, according to the Ministry of Justice.

By nationality, Chinese people topped the list at 50.8 percent, followed by Americans at 7.4 percent and Vietnamese people at 7.1 percent, the data showed. Among the Chinese residents, ethnic Koreans from China accounted for about 64 percent.

Korean expatriates with foreign citizenship holding F-4 visas accounted for 17.2 percent of the total number, followed by 14.4 percent of the total being those who are on working visits with H-2 visas and 13.7 percent being foreigners with non-professional work permits, according to the data.

The number of people living in South Korea for more than 90 days without Korean nationality accounted for 75.4 percent of the total, while that of short-term residents accounted for the remaining 24.6 percent, the data showed.

The number of foreign spouses increased to 152,025, up 1.2 percent compared to March 2013. The number of foreign students also increased by 14.4 percent to 106,138 during the cited period, according to the data. (Yonhap)