The number of foreign nationals staying in South Korea illegally increased by nearly 100-thousand in a year to top 330-thousand this year.
 
According to the data by the Ministry of Justice, about 330-thousand foreigners were staying in the country without a valid visa as of July, up about 98-thousand from 232-thousand from a year earlier.
 
The data submitted to opposition Liberty Korea Party lawmaker Joo Kwang-deok showed that about 90-thousand of them were long-term illegal aliens.
 
The lawmaker said that the surge in illegal aliens is attributed to various factors such as the expanded no-visa entry program around the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.