The Southeast Asian nation became Korea’s largest source of long-term foreign arrivals in 2025, driven by growth in students, trainees and seasonal workers.
Vietnam surpassed China last year to become the largest source of long-term foreign arrivals in Korea for the first time on record, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Thursday.
A total of 98,000 Vietnamese nationals entered Korea for stays exceeding 90 days in 2025, edging out the 94,000 Chinese nationals who did the same. Arrivals from the Southeast Asian nation have risen for three consecutive years since 2022, while Chinese arrivals have declined during the same period.
The ministry’s director of the population projection team Yoo Su-deok attributed the shift to a change in economic and educational motives.
“The number of arrivals from Vietnam has grown recently as more Vietnamese nationals have entered Korea to study, train or work for seasonal job positions,” he said during a press conference the same day. “A decrease in ethnic Koreans within China is also one factor behind the drop in overseas Korean arrivals.”
Vietnamese, Chinese and American nationals together accounted for 50.2 percent of all foreign arrivals last year.
The full aggregate of foreign arrivals, however, declined. A total of 428,000 foreigners entered Korea for stays longer than 90 days last year, down 5.1 percent from the previous year, while 378,000 left the country, up 7.1 percent. The net inflow of foreigners thus fell to 50,000, a drop of 48,000 from the previous year. By age group, net inflows were concentrated among those in their 20s or younger, with the 20s age bracket alone accounting for a net inflow of 48,000.
By visa status, employment accounted for the largest share of foreign arrivals at 37.4 percent, followed by study and general training at 25.2 percent, and permanent residency and marriage-based immigration at 13.1 percent. Arrivals for study and general training rose 9.3 percent to 108,000. But the arrivals on short-term visas fell 25.9 percent to 54,000. Employment-based arrivals declined 2.4 percent to 160,000, which the ministry linked to the government’s smaller 2025 quota for the Employment Permit System, along with a slowdown in the construction and manufacturing sectors. Arrivals of overseas Koreans fell as well, 13.5 percent to 40,000.
Total international movement, including both Korean and foreign nationals staying more than 90 days, reached 1.3 million last year, down 2.5 percent from the previous year. Arrivals totaled 685,000, a decrease of 5.8 percent, while departures rose 1.5 percent to 611,000, narrowing the overall net inflow to 74,000, down 51,000 from the prior year.
The movement of Korean citizens also declined, with 257,000 entering the country, down 7 percent, and 233,000 leaving, down 6.5 percent, for a net inflow of 24,000. Net inflows of Korean nationals were concentrated among those in their 30s and older, with the largest net inflow, 11,000, recorded among those in their 50s.
Short-term tourist arrivals to Korea, meanwhile, are booming, passing the 10 million mark in June, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism last month. It was the first time the figure had been achieved within the first half of any year. Chinese tourists accounted for the largest share in May at 560,000, followed by Japanese at 360,000, Americans at 210,000 and Taiwanese at 190,000.
BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]