South Korea's foreign residents hit a record 2.66 million, one in 20 people, and Vietnamese students now outnumber Chinese

How many foreigners live in South Korea? A record 2.66 million, or more than one in 20 people. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety counted 2,662,967 foreign residents as of 1 November 2025, up 3.1 percent from a year earlier, according to a report released on 28 October and covered by The Korea Times, as cited by VnExpress. Foreign residents now make up 5.1 percent of the country's population.

Behind the headline is a striking Southeast Asian story. Vietnamese are the second largest group of foreign nationals in Korea, and Vietnam has overtaken China as the biggest source of international students in Korean universities. For a country facing one of the world's lowest birth rates, these students, workers and families are becoming essential to its universities, factories and farms.

Who South Korea's foreign residents are

The tally covers people who have lived in South Korea for more than 90 days. It comprises 2,109,057 foreign nationals, 256,491 naturalised Korean citizens and 297,419 Korean born children of foreign residents. It was the fourth straight annual rise, taking the foreign resident population past 2.66 million in a country of more than 51.8 million people.

International students posted the steepest growth of any group, rising 17.6 percent to 274,329. Foreign workers grew 2.3 percent to 514,043, and marriage immigrants, mostly foreign spouses of Korean citizens, rose 1.1 percent to 194,017. Ethnic Koreans holding foreign nationality fell 1.1 percent to 411,314.

The mix shows how Korea's needs are changing. Universities facing a shrinking pool of Korean school leavers are recruiting abroad, factories and farms rely on foreign labour, and rural areas have long depended on marriage migration. Each group fills a gap created by the country's demographic decline.

The 90 day threshold means the figures capture people who live and work in Korea rather than tourists or short term visitors. Including naturalised citizens and the children of foreign residents also gives a fuller picture of how Korea's population is changing than counting passports alone.

The Vietnamese story

Vietnamese were the second largest group among residents without Korean citizenship, at 318,090, or 15.1 percent, behind Chinese nationals of Korean descent at 534,520, The Korea Economic Daily reported. Other Chinese nationals numbered 220,775 and Thais 158,547, making Southeast Asians a major share of Korea's foreign population.

People of Vietnamese origin also made up 23.7 percent of those who have acquired Korean citizenship, second only to Chinese of Korean descent. That reflects decades of marriage migration between Vietnam and Korea, as well as growing numbers of workers and students who settle permanently.

Among international students, Vietnam has overtaken China as the largest group in South Korean higher education, with 96,834 students, or 31.5 percent of the total, as of April this year, according to Education Ministry data released in August. For Vietnamese families, Korea offers a closer, cheaper alternative to Western universities, often with work opportunities attached, and a cultural pull driven by Korean pop culture and companies.

Korea's universities and factories are increasingly running on Vietnamese talent. That makes Hanoi one of Seoul's most important partners, not just in trade but in people.

Thailand is also a major source country, with 158,547 Thai residents. Many Thais work in agriculture, manufacturing and services, and Korea has become one of the most popular overseas destinations for Thai workers, both through official schemes and, in some cases, by overstaying tourist visas.

Why ties between Korea and Vietnam run so deep

The people to people links mirror economic ties. Samsung Electronics, Vietnam's largest foreign investor with about 25 billion dollars invested, makes a large share of its smartphones in northern Vietnam, and thousands of Korean companies operate there. Many Vietnamese students study Korean to work for those companies, at home or in Korea.

Korean firms also benefit from Vietnamese graduates who understand both languages and cultures. As covered in our report on the US probe that Tesla and Samsung are lobbying against, Samsung's Vietnamese factories are central to its global supply chain, and the flow of people between the two countries supports that relationship.

Korea's economy is booming on chip exports, as covered in our report on Korea's exports nearly doubling in October, but its labour shortages persist. That combination keeps demand high for foreign workers and students, and Southeast Asia is the main source.

Education links are deepening too. Korean universities run recruitment fairs and partnerships in Vietnam, and Korean language centres have spread across Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City as students prepare for study or work in Korea. The result is a pipeline of graduates who move between the two economies.

Where foreign residents live

Foreign residents increased in all 17 provinces and metropolitan cities, Korea JoongAng Daily reported, with North Gyeongsang posting the fastest growth at 8 percent, followed by Gangwon at 7.9 percent. Gyeonggi, the province surrounding Seoul, had the largest foreign population at 859,943, followed by Seoul at 453,201. The greater Seoul area was home to 1,487,968 foreign residents, or 55.9 percent of the total. The main features of Korea's foreign population include:

• A record 2,662,967 foreign residents, 5.1 percent of the population
• Fastest growth among international students, up 17.6 percent
• Vietnamese as the second largest group of foreign nationals
• Vietnam as the largest source of university students
• Over half living in the greater Seoul area

At the municipal level, Ansan in Gyeonggi led with 109,544 foreign residents, followed by Hwaseong, Siheung, Suwon and Bucheon, all industrial cities in the same province. South Chungcheong had the highest foreign share of any province or metropolitan city at 7.9 percent, while in the southwestern county of Yeongam foreign residents made up 22.4 percent of the population, the highest of any locality.

Yeongam is home to a major shipbuilding cluster, which relies heavily on foreign workers, showing how specific industries are reshaping local communities. In some towns, foreign residents now make up a large share of the workforce and the customer base for local businesses.

Gyeonggi's industrial cities depend heavily on foreign labour for small and medium sized factories that struggle to hire Korean workers. Ansan, in particular, has become known for its multicultural neighbourhoods, with shops and restaurants serving communities from China, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and elsewhere.

What it means for Korea and Southeast Asia

For South Korea, the record numbers show a country quietly becoming more diverse, even without a formal immigration policy on the scale of countries such as Canada or Australia. Integration, from language support to protection against workplace abuse, will become a bigger political issue as the share of foreign residents rises.

For Vietnam, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, Korea is a major destination for students and workers, generating remittances and skills. Families back home benefit from money sent from Korea, and returning graduates bring language and technical skills that are valuable to Korean companies operating in the region.

South Korea's record 2.66 million foreign residents show a country being reshaped by students, workers and families from abroad, with Vietnam at the centre. As Korea's population ages and its chip led economy keeps growing, Southeast Asian talent is becoming a pillar of its universities, factories and communities.