South Korea Expands Its Foreign Workforce as Migrants Seek a Lasting Place in Society

A Growing Foreign Population Meets Limits on Belonging

About 2.73 million foreign nationals accounted for nearly 5% of South Korea's population in 2024, as the country sought workers and students to help counter a shrinking workforce. International student enrollment reached 209,000, up 25% since 2022, while the foreign workforce had surpassed 1 million for the first time. Those increases are changing workplaces, classrooms and communities, but opportunities to enter the country have grown faster than opportunities to settle securely.

South Korea faces a fertility rate of 0.75, the lowest in the world, and a working age population projected to halve by 2070. The government has responded by easing immigration controls and recruiting people from abroad. Many newcomers, however, encounter restrictions on changing employers, uncertain routes to permanent residence and prejudice in everyday life.

Gwenaelle Storne, a 27-year-old Parisian, illustrates the uncertainty that can accompany an apparently strong connection to the country. She speaks Korean fluently, works in Seoul's IT sector and is married to a South Korean. Even with those ties, she faces the question confronting many foreign residents: whether to stay or move elsewhere.

Seoul's bright streets and the international appeal of K-pop help draw attention to South Korea. Building a life there involves a different set of concerns, including visas, housing, banking, friendships and acceptance. Government programs offer practical help, but migrants and researchers describe a wider challenge: becoming recognised as members of society rather than people admitted mainly to fill jobs.

Why South Korea Is Recruiting Abroad

South Korea's rapid economic growth in the late 20th century took place within a largely homogeneous population. Its demographic pressures now make that model harder to sustain. A fertility rate describes the average number of children a woman would have under current birth patterns. At 0.75, the country's rate points to far fewer people entering future generations of workers.

Manufacturing, agriculture and construction already face acute labor shortages as young Koreans increasingly avoid jobs in those sectors. Foreign recruitment addresses immediate vacancies, while the projected decline in the working age population makes the issue a concern extending far beyond the next hiring cycle.

The Employment Permit System (EPS), launched in 2003, provides legal entry for foreign workers with limited formal skills, primarily in sectors that struggle to attract local employees. South Korea is also seeking more international students, with a target of 300,000 enrollments by 2028.

The demographic pressures and policy milestones span several decades:

• In the late 20th century, rapid economic growth took place within a largely homogeneous society.
• In 2003, the Employment Permit System opened a legal recruitment route for foreign workers.
• Between 2022 and 2024, international student enrollment rose 25% to 209,000.
• In 2024, foreign nationals numbered about 2.73 million, nearly 5% of the population.
• By 2028, the government aims to have 300,000 international students.
• By 2070, the working age population is projected to be half its earlier size.

The student target would require another 91,000 enrollments beyond the 209,000 recorded in 2024, an increase of about 44%. Recruitment is therefore a substantial undertaking even before universities and communities address how students will participate in daily life.

Ansan Shows How Local Support Works

Ansan, which has the country's largest proportion of foreign residents, has become a testing ground for integration programs. Government efforts in designated multicultural zones include language support, mentoring after school and local services intended to help newcomers navigate Korean society.

Hope365, a nonprofit support center in Ansan, offers early adaptation courses in 18 languages. Lessons cover practical tasks such as opening bank accounts, alongside Korean laws and values. Community centers provide Korean classes, community services and multilingual libraries.

Park Chang-hyun, from the justice ministry's immigration integration division, described the government's aim for children from migrant families:

We want migrant children to have equal opportunities in Korean society. We want them to adapt well into society and be culturally comfortable so they can showcase their capabilities and talents.

Language lessons and help with administrative tasks can make daily life easier. The broader debate concerns whether Korean institutions and residents are also adapting to the people joining their communities, rather than placing the entire responsibility for adjustment on newcomers.

Equal Membership Requires More Than Adaptation

YoonKyung Kwak of the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs argues that the central issue is whether Koreans regard migrants as equal members of society, rather than temporary workers or economic tools. Her concern reaches beyond the number of people attending language courses or entering employment.

Kwak described the change she considers necessary for meaningful integration:

Moving beyond an instrumental perspective toward a genuine sense of shared community is the next critical step for meaningful integration.

Government programs concentrate heavily on teaching migrants how to function within existing institutions and customs. Critics describe that approach as one sided because it gives less attention to mutual understanding with the host society. A person can learn the language and follow the rules while still facing exclusion from friendships, services or community life.

The proposed alternative is mutual adaptation: migrants learn about their new surroundings, while local residents and institutions also respond to their experiences and cultures. That approach connects the practical work of settlement with the question of who is accepted as belonging.

Work Permits Bring Jobs and Restrictions

The Employment Permit System and other visa programs have increased transparency and reduced unauthorized migration. They provide a legal route into work, but most foreign workers remain tied to particular employers. Changing jobs can therefore become difficult, including when a worker is trying to leave an abusive workplace.

Reports of unpaid wages, workplace abuse and physical violence show the risks accompanying that dependence. For someone whose permission to work is linked to an employer, an employment dispute can affect more than income. The rules governing the job also shape the person's ability to continue working in South Korea.

A fire at a lithium battery plant in 2024 killed 23 workers, mostly Chinese nationals. The tragedy drew attention to the disproportionate workplace risks faced by foreign laborers, putting worker safety alongside visa reform in the debate about their treatment.

Recruitment can fill a factory vacancy quickly compared with the longer task of building secure employment and settlement arrangements. Foreign workers are helping sustain sectors facing shortages, while restrictions on mobility and limited routes to residence leave many with little control over their future.

Social Acceptance Varies by Migrant Status

South Korea lacks comprehensive legislation against discrimination, leaving migrants with limited recourse when they encounter prejudice in daily life, banking or housing. Practical support programs operate alongside that gap in legal protection.

A 2024 survey found that more than 61% of Koreans considered having foreign residents in their neighborhood "normal." Acceptance nevertheless varied according to the setting and the type of migrant. Support for social benefits was much higher for permanent residents than for temporary workers.

Concerns about crime, public spending and competition for jobs also persisted. The survey describes a society becoming more accustomed to foreign neighbors while continuing to draw distinctions over rights and access to support.

For migrants, those distinctions matter in concrete ways. Permission to live or work in the country is one part of settlement; access to services and fair treatment in ordinary transactions are another. The absence of comprehensive legal protection leaves everyday acceptance especially dependent on the institutions and people they encounter.

Schools and Universities Face Their Own Test

South Korean schools are central to integration efforts, especially in multicultural zones. Korean language support and mentoring after school help foreign children participate in lessons and adjust to their surroundings. Many students still struggle with the language, cultural differences and limited support systems.

Gonjiam middle school near Seoul offers examples of what targeted assistance can achieve. Some foreign students have gone on to become teachers or attend university. Their progress shows the concrete possibilities associated with sustained support rather than an expectation that children will adjust immediately.

Universities face difficulties of their own as international enrollment grows. Foreign students and faculty report problems making friends and participating fully in campus life, with reluctance to integrate coming from both foreign and Korean participants.

The target of 300,000 international students by 2028 puts those experiences alongside the recruitment effort. A university place brings someone into an institution; social connections and access to campus activities help determine what life within that institution becomes. For many students, pressure to assimilate quickly adds to the demands of studying in a new environment.

Marriage Migrants Navigate Family Expectations

Marriage provides a significant route to settlement, particularly for women from Southeast Asia. Research describes women arriving with high expectations and then encountering language barriers, cultural misunderstandings and conflicting expectations within their new families.

Many experience acculturative stress, meaning the strain involved in adjusting to another culture. Social isolation and limited understanding from spouses and the wider community can make that adjustment more difficult. Learning Korean is only one part of a transition that also involves family relationships and unfamiliar expectations.

Confucian values and a lingering emphasis on ethnic homogeneity complicate acceptance of multicultural families. Expectations that immigrants should adopt local customs quickly and maintain a low profile can leave little space for their own experiences or cultural identities.

Advocates of a fair integration model argue that immigrants and local residents should influence and learn from each other. Grassroots food and language sharing programs offer practical ways to bring communities together. Such activities give participants opportunities for cultural exchange rather than treating adaptation as a task for migrants alone.

North Korean Refugees Follow a Distinct Route

North Korean refugees occupy a different legal position from foreign nationals: they receive South Korean citizenship and state support. Their experiences nevertheless form part of the wider debate about acceptance, because legal membership can coexist with substantial economic, social and cultural difficulties.

Discrimination based on accent, skepticism about political loyalties and problems within the education system affect their adjustment. Many struggle to find jobs that pay well and experience persistent social isolation despite improvements in policy.

Kim Sung Kyung, associate director of the North Korea-South Korea Mind Integration Center, described the continuing role of cultural acceptance and support:

Despite economic and legal improvements, cultural discrimination remains a significant issue. Integration efforts involve ongoing support from government agencies and non-profit organizations, often including educational programs aimed at fostering understanding and empathy among South Koreans.

Government agencies and nonprofit organizations provide continuing assistance, including education aimed at helping South Koreans understand the experiences of people arriving from the North. Their situation brings attention to how employment, education and social relationships shape belonging alongside citizenship.

The Debate Over Permanent Residence

Moon Jae-wan, president of the Korea Migration Law Association, calls for immigrants to be recognised as full members of society whose contributions are cultural and social as well as economic. He advocates a balanced legal order that protects their rights and supports sustainable development.

Lee Chang-won, a researcher at the Migration Research and Training Center, points to the limited settlement options attached to many work visas. Most are issued for work requiring limited formal skills and for short stays, with few routes to permanent residence or citizenship.

Of roughly 180,000 permanent residents, the majority are members of the Korean diaspora or marriage migrants. Only a small fraction obtained that status through skills or entrepreneurship. The Korean diaspora refers to people of Korean ancestry living outside the country, a category distinct from migrants arriving without those family connections.

Kim Hyun-mee, a professor of cultural anthropology at Yonsei University, identifies a gap between progressive legal frameworks and actual integration practices. She advocates a residency system based on points, similar to Australia's, that would allow immigrants to qualify through education and work experience. Such a system would assess specified qualifications rather than making settlement depend primarily on existing family or ancestry routes.

Kim argues that reforms should support immigrants working in sectors such as construction and shipbuilding, with a clear route to citizenship and integration. The proposed changes address a central tension: South Korea seeks workers for continuing economic needs, while many of the visas used to recruit them are structured around temporary employment. No timetable is given for these proposed residency reforms or for comprehensive legislation against discrimination.

Local Cooperation Connects to a Wider Debate

Countries across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development face similar pressures to balance labor needs, social cohesion and migrant rights. Recent trends include greater attention to social integration, action against discrimination and access to housing and employment. Many countries are updating citizenship laws and expanding activities that help newcomers participate in civic life.

The Council of Europe's Intercultural Cities Programme supports municipalities in developing inclusive governance and services. Ansan has shared its experience internationally as a multicultural laboratory, linking local initiatives with exchanges between cities facing comparable challenges.

Local partnerships, grassroots projects and greater civic participation by immigrants are part of the reform debate alongside changes to visas and residence rules. Their shared aim is to give migrants a role in community life, rather than treating them solely as recipients of instructions or assistance.

South Korea's expanding foreign population is already contributing to workplaces, universities and families. Lasting integration depends on how those contributions connect to secure status, legal protection and everyday acceptance. The central choice is whether people recruited to address demographic pressures can also build a dependable place in the society they help sustain.

Key Points

• Foreign nationals numbered about 2.73 million in 2024, nearly 5% of South Korea's population.
• The fertility rate stood at 0.75, and the working age population is projected to halve by 2070.
• International student enrollment reached 209,000, up 25% since 2022, against a target of 300,000 by 2028.
• Foreign workers face restrictions on changing employers and limited routes to permanent residence or citizenship.
• Ansan and other communities provide language classes, practical assistance and support for children.
• Marriage migrants and North Korean refugees face distinct family, employment and social challenges.
• South Korea lacks comprehensive legislation against discrimination, while social acceptance varies by migrant status.
• Researchers and legal advocates call for mutual adaptation, stronger rights and clearer opportunities for lasting settlement.