The number of foreign nationals last year who entered the country to look for work hit 173,000, the second-highest figure in history. Shown is the arrival hall of Incheon International Airport's Terminal 1 in March 2023.

By Gil Kyuyoung

More than 170,000 people from abroad last year came to the country to look for work, the second-highest figure in the nation's history.

Statistics Korea's 2023 report on movement by the international population released on July 11 found that the number of foreign nationals staying in the country for over 90 days was 480,000 last year, up 16.2% (67,000) in 2022. Among them, 173,000 came for jobs, the highest since 176,399 in 2008.

By residential status, 36.1% came for employment, 21% short stays, 17.3% study and general training, and 12.1% permanent residency and marriage immigration. This means that over a third of them came to find work.

The rise was apparently thanks to improvements in the employment system for seasonal foreign workers and expansion of the Employment Permit System to alleviate the labor shortage at farming and fishing villages.

By country, China sent the most foreign jobseekers (132,000), followed by Vietnam (71,000) and Thailand (35,000). All three countries accounted for 49.6% of the total.

Statistics Korea also reported net inflow of foreign nationals across all age groups, mostly those in their 20s with 81,000.

gilkyuyoung@korea.kr