1 in 5 foreigners in Korea undocumented: data

Foreign workers arrive at the Incheon International Airport on July 13. [NEWS1]

One in five foreign nationals staying in Korea are illegal immigrants, with the number of undocumented immigrants rising to nearly 400,000, government data showed Thursday.

According to the data compiled by the Ministry of Justice, 395,068 foreigners were staying in the country without a valid visa in July, about 20 percent of the entire population of foreign nationals residing in the country.

The number of undocumented foreign nationals has steadily increased, from 388,000 last December to some 392,000 in March and some 394,000 in May, the data showed.

The ratio of undocumented foreigners out of the entire population of foreign nationals also jumped from 15.5 percent in 2019 to 19.3 percent in 2020 and 19.9 percent in 2021, the data showed.

The ministry attributed such increase to more foreigners not returning to their home country due to tightened border controls following the outbreak of the pandemic.

Yonhap