The number of asylum-seekers awaiting their refugee review process in South Korea between January and August is close to breaking last year's record figure, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Justice Ministry on Monday, 24-thousand-135 applicants were awaiting decisions on their refugee statuses, nearing the record 25-thousand-578 set in 2019.

The number of applications, which was under ten-thousand until 2017, has been gradually increasing after jumping to 19-thousand-636 in 2018.

The pace of increase in applications is much faster compared to that of the number of government workers tasked with refugee approvals, with only 65 handling the applications last year.

Following discoveries of cases involving insufficient review, the National Human Rights Commission has recommended the ministry to seek measures to ensure fairness in the process.

Experts recommend that the government should establish an independent agency to handle refugee applications.