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No. of foreigners in Korea hits record high of 2.73 mil. in June: data

The number of foreigners or ethnic Koreans with foreign citizenship living in Korea has reached a record high of 2.73 million, with one in three being Chinese, government data showed Sunday. The number of registered foreigners in the country came to 1.56 million as of end-June, with that of Koreans holding foreign citizenship and staying here reaching 552,419, according to immigration data from the Ministry of Justice. The number of foreigners on short-term stays, including tourists, stood at 620,403, the data showed. The number of foreign residents in Korea had reached a previous record of 2.52 million in 2019 before falling sharply to 1.96 million in 2021 in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. The number rebounded to 2.51 million in 2023 before reaching a new high of 2.65 million at the end of last year. Compared with the previous month, the latest number marks a 1.5 percent increase. By nationality, Chinese nationals accounted for 35.6 percent of the total, or 972,176 people, followed by Vietnamese at 341,153, Americans 196,664, Thais 173,710 and Uzbeks at 98,457. More than half of the fo

Jul 27, 2025By Yonhap

No. of foreigners in Korea hits record high of 2.73 mil. in June: data

InterviewOne Afghan refugee's fight to breathe and belong in Korea

JEONJU, North Jeolla Province — Everyone has that one song, a kind of comfort track and sonic shelter that steadies the heart when words fall short. For Khadijeh, it’s a ballad sung in a language she couldn’t speak or understand just five years ago: g.o.d.’s “Road.” “The road I’m taking now, where does it lead me? Where will it take me? I don’t know. And yet, I’m still walking today.” It wasn’t until months into her Korean language studies that the lyrics of the 24-year-old melody fully opened up to her. But when they did, they struck with quiet force. “It felt as if the song was speaking the words I couldn’t say,” she told The Korea Times. Each verse seemed to mirror the winding contours of her own journey — from the margins of Iranian society, where she grew up as an Afghan refugee, to the tree-lined campus of a Korean university, where she now walks as a nursing student. A life rebuilt, thousands of miles and a world away from where she began. Childhood in shadows Khadijeh, who asked to be identified only by her first name due to security concerns, was bo

Jul 25, 2025By Park Han-sol

One Afghan refugee's fight to breathe and belong in Korea

Seoul punk band Fail Fast releases new EP

They promised failure, but the Seoul-based punk band Fail Fast is still going, one year later. Things have been moving fast for the band, which announced last month it was joining local punk label World Domination, Inc. (WDI). Now it's set to release its second mini-album, featuring seven tracks. When the band got its start last year, they wrote 10 initial songs, three of which went on their first recording, "The Prepared Not Scared EP." That album was recorded at Binary Studios by Jeff Moses, one of the two heads of WDI. For their next album, despite joining Moses' label, they went with a different producer. "Jeff is a great engineer and polished up the songs really well, and feedback was positive," Fail Fast front man Kevin Loesken told The Korea Times. "At one point, we decided that it'd be interesting to just record the rest of the songs we had written as well, but to record them intentionally grittier and rougher, to kind of show both sides of what the songs can sound like." So they went to Slant drummer Garrett, who has recorded a number of bands on the stage at his venue, Baby Doll

Jul 25, 2025By Jon Dunbar

Seoul punk band Fail Fast releases new EP

President condemns alleged abuse of migrant worker as 'blatant human rights violation'

President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday condemned the alleged abuse of a migrant worker at a brick factory, calling it a "blatant violation of human rights" and pledging stronger protection for vulnerable groups. His remarks came a day after migrant rights activists urged authorities to punish those involved in the incident, which was captured in video footage that circulated online this week. "I could hardly believe my eyes after watching the video. It is unimaginable that such an incident could occur in a country known as a global cultural powerhouse and a model of democracy," Lee wrote on Facebook. He described the act as "an unacceptable act of violence against minorities and the vulnerable." "We will ensure that no one suffers from human rights abuses or labor exploitation due to their unstable status," the president added, calling on relevant government agencies, including the Ministry of Employment and Labor, to take swift action. The Gwangju Jeonnam Migrant Workers' Human Rights Network on Wednesday released video footage showing a man in his 30s from Sri Lanka tied to bricks with pla

Jul 24, 2025By Lee Hyo-jin

President condemns alleged abuse of migrant worker as 'blatant human rights violation'

Seoul taps foreign influencers to promote multilingual call center

Seoul's city government has appointed three foreign content creators as promotional ambassadors for its 120 Dasan Call Center, a multilingual public service hotline, in a bid to improve information access for the city's growing international population. The Dasan Call Foundation announced Tuesday that it had selected three social media influencers — Abhishek Gupta of India, Rahil Ahmadova of Azerbaijan, and Laure Mafo, a French national of Cameroonian descent — as ambassadors for the service. Gupta, better known by his nickname Lucky, rose to fame through the JTBC talk show "Abnormal Summit" and was named an honorary citizen of Seoul in 2022. Ahmadova works as a cultural heritage commentator and also serves as a multicultural instructor and mentor for immigrants. Mafo is a well-known pansori (Korean narrative music) performer. The appointments are part of the call center's new initiative to raise awareness of the city-run call center among non-Korean residents and bridge information gaps for foreigners navigating daily life in Seoul. As promotional ambassadors, the three will share u

Jul 23, 2025By Lee Hyo-jin

Seoul taps foreign influencers to promote multilingual call center

Swiss ambassador reflects on 4 transformative years in Korea

Dagmar Schmidt Tartagli is nearing the end of her time as Switzerland’s ambassador to Korea, four transformative years marked by diplomacy, cultural exchange and personal discovery. From milestone moments like the 60th anniversary of Switzerland-Korea diplomatic ties to quiet walks on Mount Inwang, the ambassador shared vivid memories, thoughtful insights and the lessons she will carry forward as she prepares to bid farewell to the country that has left a lasting mark on both her professional journey and family life. She spoke to The Korea Times on June 3. Below are some of her comments. Q. Looking back at your time here, what moment stands out most vividly to you, both personally and professionally? A. Among the many milestones during my time here, the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2023 was one of the most significant. It served as a cornerstone for deepening our bilateral engagement, marked by high-level exchanges, a rich cultural program and an MoU (memorandum of understanding) aimed at enhancing cooperation in research fields such as life sciences, digital innovation and q

Jul 23, 2025By Bereket Alemayehu

Swiss ambassador reflects on 4 transformative years in Korea

Global Korean adoptee community gathers in Paju for official opening of Omma Poom Park

PAJU, Gyeonggi Province — Hundreds of adoptees came to Korea late last month to commemorate the opening of Omma Poom Park on the grounds of a closed U.S. military base northwest of Seoul. The park, which is intended to honor adoptees as well as their Korean birth mothers, had already been opened with a dedication ceremony in 2018, but this opening on June 13 and 14 was an official acknowledgement that anyone could access the park publicly. Me and Korea, a U.S.-based adoptee organization, presented the two-day event along with the Paju city government to promote reflection, healing and reconciliation for adoptees returning to explore their roots and honor their histories. But the event also invited controversy due to the participation of adoption agencies, which have been widely criticized for violating the human rights of adoptees and their birth families. The event featured an exhibition of more than 900 photos of adoptees and their messages to Korea, Korean citizens and even their long-lost birth families. The event included a screening of the movie “Dear Name” and performances

Jul 22, 2025By Antonia Giordano

Global Korean adoptee community gathers in Paju for official opening of Omma Poom Park

Korean adoptee turns personal objects into portraits of belonging

In MI&Gallery near Gyeongbok Palace, a small collection of sculptural works asks a single, pointed question: What object best represents your relationship to Korea? The prompt is at the center of the upcoming exhibition, “Art & Seoul,” by Sydney Fallon, an Asian American artist and Korean adoptee who traveled from a small town in Arkansas to Seoul for her first solo show. The exhibition runs from July 24 to 27th and features 12 hand-crafted objects, each based on the responses of adoptees from around the world. Though Fallon has been to Korea before, this visit carries personal and professional weight. The show coincides with a long-awaited meeting with her birth father, a reunion made possible through the Eastern Social Welfare Society (ESWS). “While the documentation was there, going through ESWS was supportive, but it was also complex,” she told The Korea Times. It was only her persistence in searching that led her to meeting her birth father. The exhibition draws loosely from the "doljabi" ceremony, a Korean tradition in which a child selects from a range of objects on their

Jul 22, 2025By Antonia Giordano

Korean adoptee turns personal objects into portraits of belonging

RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK Ex-GI becomes Pyeongtaek's 'beer man'

PYEONGTAEK, Gyeonggi Province — There are fewer more beautiful things than when passion meets expertise and it results in something tangible and real. A good example is the massive fridge at Nōm Beer Co. in Pyeongtaek's Anjeong-ri. It hosts Korea’s largest selection of domestic craft beer and it’s truly impressive: 100 cans and bottles and an impressive 20 taps. The man behind this buffet of boozy beverages? Mike Aptaker. Mike’s been around and he’s done quite a number of interesting and important things. Currently, he resides in Pyeongtaek and works in the craft beer industry. But this wasn’t always the case. His residency in Pyeongtaek is not a coincidence and it unsurprisingly started with much of his childhood spent in Korea as a “military brat,” followed by a career of his own in the U.S. military. Mike was born in 1980 at Seoul's U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) Yongsan to an American father and Korean mother. Mike spent some of his childhood in the U.S. state of Washington, but his most formative years were in Seoul from the ages of 1 to 5 and 9 to 17. It’s no wonder

Jul 20, 2025By Kevin Grabb

[RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK] Ex-GI becomes Pyeongtaek's 'beer man'

Anthropologist analyzes Korea's advertising industry

Olga Fedorenko, the only foreign female faculty member in the anthropology department of Seoul National University, holds a bachelor's degree in Korean Studies, an MBA from Yonsei University and an MA and a Ph.D. in East Asian Studies from the University of Toronto. Her striking academic career also includes 15 articles, one book, multiple grants, numerous invited talks and conference presentations — yet the humble professor describes her trajectory as “a chain of coincidences.” Her path may appear linear but her career took a turn when she stepped away from academia to work in marketing. After two years in an industry that didn't satisfy her intellectual or ethical sensibilities, and “charmed by the intellectual atmosphere” of the University of Toronto where she was completing her master's degree, she enrolled in the university's Ph.D. program in East Asian studies. This decision, far from being part of a calculated plan, was driven by a desire to deepen and expand her thinking. Continuing the thread of serendipity, her choice opened the door to what would become the defining

Jul 20, 2025By Daniela P. Solano

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