"35 out of 100 Vietnamese Residents in Korea Are Illegal Immigrants"

Vietnam Migrant Labor Center Report
Dropped to 20% in 2020, Then Increased Again

Among 100 Vietnamese residents in South Korea, about 35 are identified as illegal immigrants.

According to a report recently published by the Vietnam Migrant Workers Center on the 26th, as of last September, 34.5% of Vietnamese living in South Korea were found to be staying illegally.

The proportion of illegal residents dropped to 20% in 2020 due to a sharp decline in labor demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. After the pandemic subsided, this rate began to rise again, reaching 28% last year and increasing further this year.

By region, illegal residents were predominantly migrants from the northern areas. The illegal stay rate among Vietnamese from Hai Duong, Lang Son, Nam Dinh, and Vinh Phuc provinces in the north ranged from 33% to 37%.

The governments of both countries have taken measures such as imposing fines, detaining illegal residents, and restricting labor recruitment at workplaces violating regulations to reduce the number of illegal Vietnamese residents in South Korea. In the case of Chi Linh City in Hai Duong Province, a large number of illegal residents were caught in South Korea, resulting in a ban on local residents visiting South Korea.

Le Van Luong, Deputy Director of the Labor Department in Yen Bai Province in the north, explained that many Vietnamese continue to stay secretly in South Korea after their three-year stay period expires because they have little money saved to repay the costs incurred for employment. He expressed the opinion that "if the stay period is extended, the proportion of illegal migrant workers will decrease, and South Korean companies will be able to maintain stable production."

Vietnamese who pass the Korean Employment Permit System screening mainly work in manufacturing, construction, agriculture, and fisheries. Their average monthly wage is known to be about 40 million dong (approximately 2.15 million KRW).

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice reported that the number of illegal foreign residents in South Korea this year reached 410,000. This accounts for about 19% of the total foreign population of approximately 2.19 million living in South Korea, meaning that one in five foreign residents is an illegal immigrant.

Illegal residents often work as short-term laborers in rural areas facing labor shortages. According to a 2021 study by the Korea Rural Economic Institute, 91% of crop farming households that employed foreign workers had hired undocumented foreigners (illegal residents) at some point.