Number of employed foreigners falls 1.4 percent as of May

Social Affairs

Published: 21 Dec. 2022, 13:36 Updated: 21 Dec. 2022, 18:30

Number of employed foreigners falls 1.4 percent as of May

A foreigner looks around the Job Fair for International Students 2022, held at the COEX mall in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, in October. [YONHAP]

The number of employed foreigners as of May fell 1.4 percent on year to 843,000, with employment of those with student visas and work and visit visas falling greatly.

As of May 15, there were a total of 843,000 foreigners employed in Korea according to Statistics Korea on Tuesday, edging down 1.4 percent on year.

Of them, those with ethnic Korean employment visas, or the H-2 visa, fell 23.6 percent on year to 71,600. There were 28,300 foreigners employed with student visas — D-2, D-4-1 and D-4-7 — which fell 17 percent on year.

There were 209,100 foreigners employed with a non-professional work visa, or the E-9 visa, which fell 6.9 percent on year.

“The decrease is due to employed foreigners going back to their home country as the number of international flights increase following the easing of the pandemic,” said a spokesperson for Statistics Korea. “The Ministry of Employment and Labor will raise the quota for the E-9 visa next year, and we will have to wait and see if that brings changes.”

The Labor Ministry will issue 110,000 E-9 visas next year, up 59 percent on year.

Increase in employment came from those with overseas Korean visas and marriage visas.

There were 245,800 people employed with overseas Korean visas, the F-4 visa, up 3.8 percent on year. People employed with the permanent residency visa, the F-5, rose 7.2 percent on year to 95,800. Foreigners employed with the marriage migrant visa, the F-6, rose 5.6 percent on year to 67,900.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]