Vietnam Ranks First in Number of Foreigners with Long-Term Stays in RoK

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The report showed that the RoK recorded around 428,000 foreign nationals entering the country for stays of over 90 days in 2025, down from 451,000 in the previous year. The statistics did not include cases of illegal entry.

By nationality, Vietnamese citizens topped the list with about 98,000 people, followed by Chinese nationals with 94,000 and Americans with 23,000. Together, these three groups accounted for more than half of all foreign nationals entering the RoK for long-term stays.

A basic financial education program for Vietnamese people in the RoK held at the Hyangnam Complex Cultural Center Library in Hwaseong City on June 21, 2026. (Illustrative photo: Nhat Hung/VNA correspondent in South Korea).

Yoo Su Deok, Director of the Population Forecasting Division at Statistics Korea, said the rapid increase in the number of Vietnamese nationals coming to the RoK in recent years was mainly driven by growing demand for education, vocational training, and seasonal employment programs. In addition, the continued decline in the number of Koreans living in China has also contributed to changes in the nationality composition of foreign entrants.

The statistics also revealed that around 160,000 foreign nationals entered South Korea for employment purposes in 2025, a decrease of 2.4% compared with the previous year. Among them, the number of low-skilled workers fell by 24.4% to approximately 73,000, while the number of highly skilled workers declined by 14.1% to around 13,000.

In terms of entry purposes, employment remained the most common reason, accounting for 37.4% of all foreign nationals with long-term stays in the RoK. This was followed by education and training, which made up 25.2%, while those entering for permanent settlement or marriage purposes accounted for 13.1%.

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