By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
The Justice Ministry said Friday that 25,044 foreigners including ethnic Koreans from China gained Korean citizenship last year.
This brought the total number of naturalized citizens up to 80,832 since 1957, when the first case of naturalization was approved.
The ministry said last year's number more than doubled the 11,518 recorded in 2008, attributing the increase to a surge in the number of foreign women marrying Korean men.
By country of origin, China topped the list with 19,432, followed by Vietnam with 3,762 and the Philippines with 815.
Sixty-eight percent of them were granted Korean citizenship after marrying a Korean citizen, and 78 percent of those who gained citizenship through marriage were female, it noted.
To meet a growing number of applications, the ministry plans to expedite the process for naturalization.
"We are shortening the naturalization process to help foreigners settle down as soon as possible," said a ministry official.