Vietnamese lead influx of migrants to South Korea as foreign population hits record high

South Korea’s foreign resident population has climbed to an all-time high, driven by a sharp rise in young migrants and a particularly strong influx from Vietnam, according to new data. The 2025 Immigrant Residence and Employment Survey, published Thursday, shows that as of May, the number of foreign residents aged 15 or older exceeded 1.69 million, up from 1.56 million a year earlier, an increase of around 8 per cent. The figure accounts for about 3.3 per cent of South Korea’s total population...