Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Over half of skilled visa holders earn more than $2,000 per month
Foreign fishermen work at Daebyeon Port in Busan, Tuesday. Newsis
By Jung Min-ho
More than half of foreign workers on so-called “professional” visas in Korea — holders of E-1 to E-7 work permits — now earn over 3 million won ($2,000) a month, according to new data released Tuesday.
A survey published by the Ministry of Data and Statistics shows that among professional workers — including professors (E‑1), foreign language teachers (E‑2), researchers (E‑3), tech experts (E-4), licensed professionals (E‑5), artists and performers (E‑6) and specific‑activity workers (E‑7) — more than half reported a monthly income of at least 3 million won.
Across all foreign employees in the country, 50.2 percent earned between 2 million and 3 million won a month, while 36.9 percent took home more than 3 million won.
However, among “non-professional” workers such as E-9 visa holders, 68.9 percent were concentrated in the 2 million to under 3 million won range.
The survey also examined working hours. Among foreign workers overall, 58.1 percent said they worked between 40 and 50 hours per week. Another 17.8 percent worked between 50 and 60 hours, and 8.7 percent reported working 60 hours or more. All this shows that long working hours remain common for many migrant workers.
Despite these conditions, job satisfaction was high. Some 68.7 percent of all foreign workers said they were satisfied with their current job. Satisfaction levels were particularly high among E‑9 workers, at 77 percent. Only 10.8 percent of foreign workers said they wished to change jobs.