Anchor: More than half of all foreign nationals staying in South Korea long term to study or work live in Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area. New government data also shows the number of registered foreigners has reached a record high. 
Yun Sohyang has the details.

Report: More than one-point-six million registered foreigners were staying in South Korea as of November, the highest figure on record.

According to the Korea Immigration Service, the number of foreigners registered to stay in the country for more than 90 days rose eight percent from a year earlier, far outpacing the overall growth rate of foreign nationals entering and leaving the country.

The number of registered foreign nationals staying in the country as a whole during the same period saw an on-year increase of only three-point-two-percent. 

More than half of those long-term foreign residents were living in the Seoul metropolitan area, which also includes Gyeonggi Province and Incheon.

Hwaseong, in Gyeonggi Province, had the largest population of foreign residents, followed by Siheung and Ansan’s Danwon District, also in Gyeonggi.

Outside the capital region, about 20-point-six percent of registered foreigners lived in the southeastern Gyeongsang region, while 12-point-eight percent resided in the central Chungcheong provinces and eight-point-nine percent in the southwestern Jeolla region.

Chinese nationals accounted for the largest group of registered foreigners, making up just under 30 percent of the total.

They were followed by Vietnamese nationals at 18-point-four percent, with smaller proportions from Nepal, Uzbekistan and Cambodia.

Holders of nonprofessional employment visas, or E-9 visas, accounted for the largest group of registered foreigners, with about 335-thousand people in this category.

They were followed by international students on D-2 visas at just over 220-thousand, permanent residents at roughly 219-thousand, and marriage migrants on F-6 visas at more than 152-thousand.

Other major categories included foreign workers under the E-7 specific activities visa and visiting workers on H-2 visas.
Yun Sohyang, KBS World Radio News.