Registered foreigners in Seoul Dobong-gu number 3,152, which is 1.05% of the resident-registration population of 299,899. That is below both the national average of 3.14% and the Seoul average of 3.01%. It ranks 224 among the 250 districts. Within Seoul it ranks 21 of 25. Over the past 10 years, registered foreigners rose from 1,999 in 2015 to 3,152, an increase of about 57.7%. 80 nationalities are counted, and the three largest are Vietnam at 18.2%, Mongolia at 14%, and China at 13.1%. Shannon diversity (H) is 2.522, below the national 2.607, and ranks 43 of 250 districts. Within Seoul it ranks 1. By continent of origin, diversity is 0.042, below the national 0.123. It ranks 227 of 250 districts. East Asia accounts for 45.1% and Southeast Asia for 33.2%, and the two together are 78.4%. Language demand estimated from the nationality composition is highest for Vietnamese, then Chinese, then Mongolian.
Foreign residents (MOIS) numbered 5,681 in 2024, which is 1.9% of the resident-registration population of 296,997. Of these, 3,733 do not hold Republic of Korea nationality, 901 have acquired nationality, and 1,047 are children of foreign residents. By type, other foreigners number 1,261, International studentss 795, Marriage migrants 711, and overseas Koreans with foreign nationality 643. Children of foreign residents number 1,047, which ranks 123 among 252 districts and is 18.4% of foreign residents in this district. Among the 3,152 people with a known status of stay, the most common are Student (D2) with 684 people at 21.7%, Marriage Migration (F6) with 638 at 20.2%, and General Trainee (D4) with 421 at 13.4%. Organizations that support immigrants number 2 in this district, or 6.3 per 10,000 registered foreigners.
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook on Immigration and Foreign Policy 2025 (registered foreigners by district, by nationality, and by status of stay), MOIS Status of Foreign Residents in Local Governments 2024, MOIS Resident Registration Population Statistics 2025. The diversity indices and location quotients were calculated from the open dataset. The list of support organizations was compiled by this site. DOI 10.3886/E249944
| Indicators | Dobong-gu | Seoul | National | Vs national |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered foreigners | 3,152 | 279,629 | 1,604,920 | National total: 0.2% |
| Foreign share | 1.05 | 3.01 | 3.14 | 0.33× |
| Shannon diversity (H) | 2.522 | 2.228 | 2.607 | 0.97× |
| Nationalities | 80 | 186 | 192 | National total: 41.7% |
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook (registered foreigners by district), MOIS Resident Registration Population Statistics.
Note: H is the Shannon diversity index. The number of nationalities is counted from the district-by-nationality table in all three columns: the province value is the union over that province's districts and the national value is the union over the 250 districts. The yearbook began listing every nationality at the district level in 2014, so counts before that year are cut to the top 19 plus other. The national value is the sum of the 250 districts and equals the yearbook's national total.
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook each year.
| Year | Dobong-gu | Seoul | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 0.74 | 2.50 | 1.72 |
| 2012 | 0.60 | 2.42 | 1.83 |
| 2016 | 0.59 | 2.75 | 2.25 |
| 2020 | 0.65 | 2.51 | 2.21 |
| 2025 | 1.05 | 3.01 | 3.14 |
Source: MOIS Resident Registration Population Statistics each year.
Note: this is the denominator behind the share in Figure 1. It counts Korean residents on the resident registration and does not include registered foreigners.
| Year | Resident population | Index | Registered foreigners | Foreign share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 373,936 | 100.0 | 2,762 | 0.74 |
| 2009 | 369,733 | 98.9 | 2,665 | 0.72 |
| 2010 | 368,298 | 98.5 | 2,436 | 0.66 |
| 2011 | 365,573 | 97.8 | 2,376 | 0.65 |
| 2012 | 362,270 | 96.9 | 2,184 | 0.60 |
| 2013 | 358,582 | 95.9 | 2,027 | 0.57 |
| 2014 | 353,709 | 94.6 | 2,003 | 0.57 |
| 2015 | 351,242 | 93.9 | 1,999 | 0.57 |
| 2016 | 348,220 | 93.1 | 2,052 | 0.59 |
| 2017 | 344,166 | 92.0 | 2,068 | 0.60 |
| 2018 | 339,413 | 90.8 | 2,236 | 0.66 |
| 2019 | 333,362 | 89.1 | 2,269 | 0.68 |
| 2020 | 325,257 | 87.0 | 2,104 | 0.65 |
| 2021 | 317,366 | 84.9 | 2,007 | 0.63 |
| 2022 | 311,694 | 83.4 | 2,295 | 0.74 |
| 2023 | 306,948 | 82.1 | 2,546 | 0.83 |
| 2024 | 303,228 | 81.1 | 2,804 | 0.92 |
| 2025 | 299,899 | 80.2 | 3,152 | 1.05 |
| Nationality | Registered foreigners | Dobong-gu Share | Seoul | National | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnam | 573 | 18.2 | 11.2 | 18.3 | |
| Mongolia | 442 | 14.0 | 4.4 | 2.6 | |
| China | 413 | 13.1 | 24.2 | 14.1 | |
| Korean-Chinese | 350 | 11.1 | 24.3 | 15.6 | |
| Myanmar | 187 | 5.9 | 1.7 | 3.6 | |
| Philippines | 164 | 5.2 | 1.3 | 3.4 | |
| Japan | 154 | 4.9 | 3.9 | 1.8 | |
| United States | 91 | 2.9 | 4.2 | 2.3 | |
| Nepal | 83 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 5.6 | |
| Uzbekistan | 65 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 4.3 |
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook (registered foreigners by district and nationality).
Note: Korean-Chinese and China together come to 59.6%. Seoul and the national columns give the share of that nationality among registered foreigners in each area.
| Rank | Language | Estimated count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vietnamese | 490 | 20.6 | |
| 2 | Chinese | 468 | 19.7 | |
| 3 | Mongolian | 382 | 16.1 | |
| 4 | Japanese | 151 | 6.3 | |
| 5 | Tagalog/Filipino | 144 | 6.1 | |
| 6 | English | 120 | 5.0 | |
| 7 | Burmese | 118 | 5.0 | |
| 8 | Russian | 67 | 2.8 | |
| 9 | Khmer | 58 | 2.4 | |
| 10 | Thai | 53 | 2.2 |
Source: An estimate that applies the first-language shares of Ethnologue first-language shares, with Korean excluded.
Note: Only the top 20 languages are calculated for this district, so the shares are shares within those 20.
| Visa category | Registered foreigners | Dobong-gu Share | National | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student(D2) | 684 | 21.7 | - | |
| Marriage Migration(F6) | 638 | 20.2 | - | |
| General Trainee(D4) | 421 | 13.4 | - | |
| Permanent Residence(F5) | 404 | 12.8 | - | |
| Non-professional Employment(E9) | 184 | 5.8 | - | |
| Visiting Cohabitation(F1) | 157 | 5.0 | - | |
| Dependent Family(F3) | 126 | 4.0 | - | |
| Residential(F2) | 117 | 3.7 | - | |
| Other statuses | 421 | 13.4 | - |
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook (registered foreigners by status of stay and district).
Note: The national column is the share the same status holds among registered foreigners nationwide in that year. Status is known for all 3,152 registered foreigners.
| Type | Persons | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other foreigners | 1,261 | 22.2 | |
| International students | 795 | 14.0 | |
| Marriage migrant | 711 | 12.5 | |
| Overseas Koreans | 643 | 11.3 | |
| Migrant workers | 323 | 5.7 |
Source: MOIS Status of Foreign Residents in Local Governments 2024.
Note: Only this table follows the MOIS count, which totals 5,681, and it covers a different population from the 2,804 registered foreigners MOJ counted the same year. Adding the two counts the same people twice.
Source: MOIS Status of Foreign Residents in Local Governments each year.
Note: The share of each type among foreign residents in this district in that year. Table 5 gives counts for a single year and this figure gives the composition year by year. Values can break in years when district boundaries changed. Types are set by dividing the work, study, and marriage shares among foreign residents without Korean nationality by the national benchmark (38%, 16%, 15%).
| Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 0.0 | 41.6 | 25.2 | 1.9 | 13.8 |
| 2009 | 6.9 | 37.7 | 19.8 | 1.8 | 9.5 |
| 2010 | 8.1 | 34.9 | 19.0 | 2.5 | 9.7 |
| 2011 | 10.8 | 26.7 | 19.8 | 3.1 | 9.4 |
| 2012 | 14.3 | 24.2 | 17.6 | 3.5 | 11.0 |
| 2013 | 16.5 | 18.3 | 17.9 | 3.7 | 11.7 |
| 2014 | 18.4 | 15.4 | 17.0 | 3.3 | 11.9 |
| 2015 | 20.7 | 15.3 | 15.2 | 3.3 | 11.7 |
| 2016 | 12.8 | 11.7 | 16.4 | 5.3 | 18.4 |
| 2017 | 13.7 | 9.5 | 16.3 | 6.1 | 17.9 |
| 2018 | 12.3 | 8.9 | 15.3 | 6.9 | 21.4 |
| 2019 | 11.3 | 8.9 | 14.2 | 7.1 | 24.5 |
| 2020 | 12.9 | 7.4 | 14.3 | 6.6 | 22.5 |
| 2021 | 13.0 | 6.2 | 14.2 | 8.5 | 20.2 |
| 2022 | 13.2 | 5.8 | 12.6 | 11.7 | 20.4 |
| 2023 | 12.0 | 5.3 | 12.2 | 12.3 | 22.7 |
| 2024 | 11.3 | 5.7 | 12.5 | 14.0 | 22.2 |
| Indicators | This district | Seoul Average | National | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.522 | 2.228 | 2.607 | 43 / 250 | |
| 0.842 | 0.744 | 0.87 | 48 / 250 | |
| 0.103 | 0.154 | 0.099 | 215 / 250 | |
| 0.042 | 0.081 | 0.123 | 227 / 250 | |
| 1.05 | 3.01 | 3.14 | 224 / 250 | |
| 0.084 | 0.197 | 0.216 | 222 / 250 |
Source: Open dataset, indicators calculated from it.
Note: Shannon diversity (H) measures how evenly nationalities are mixed, and a higher value means several nationalities of similar size. HHI moves the other way and rises as one or two nationalities dominate. Evenness rescales H to a range of 0 to 1. The rank is the position among the 250 districts ordered from the largest. The province column treats the whole province as one unit. It differs from the mean of the district values.
Source: Open dataset, indicators calculated from it.
Note: This district, its province, and the national value share one axis. The province and national values are for the same year. Values can break in years when district boundaries changed.
| Year | Dobong-gu | Seoul | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 1.492 | 1.157 | 1.715 |
| 2009 | 1.867 | 1.448 | 2.136 |
| 2010 | 1.996 | 1.456 | 2.173 |
| 2011 | 2.044 | 1.454 | 2.181 |
| 2012 | 2.17 | 1.609 | 2.286 |
| 2013 | 2.198 | 1.655 | 2.322 |
| 2014 | 2.19 | 1.637 | 2.31 |
| 2015 | 2.224 | 1.67 | 2.325 |
| 2016 | 2.258 | 1.749 | 2.381 |
| 2017 | 2.304 | 1.812 | 2.421 |
| 2018 | 2.322 | 1.818 | 2.42 |
| 2019 | 2.358 | 1.88 | 2.445 |
| 2020 | 2.359 | 1.947 | 2.464 |
| 2021 | 2.42 | 2.036 | 2.491 |
| 2022 | 2.436 | 2.123 | 2.552 |
| 2023 | 2.442 | 2.133 | 2.586 |
| 2024 | 2.486 | 2.186 | 2.604 |
| 2025 | 2.522 | 2.228 | 2.607 |
| Continent | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| East Asia | 45.1 | |
| Southeast Asia | 33.2 | |
| Other | 9.0 | |
| South Asia | 5.3 | |
| North America | 2.9 | |
| Central Asia | 2.7 | |
| Europe | 1.7 |
Source: Open dataset, indicators calculated from it.
Note: No nationality accounts for 30% or more of the foreigners in this district. The nationalities counted number 80.
| District | Registered foreigners | Share of population |
|---|
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook and Resident Registration Population Statistics. Select a district to open its report.
| Year | Multicultural | All marriages | Dobong-gu Share | Seoul | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 119 | 1,824 | 6.5 | 8.2 | 8.0 |
| 2015 | 124 | 1,852 | 6.7 | 7.6 | 7.4 |
| 2016 | 123 | 1,674 | 7.3 | 8.1 | 7.7 |
| 2017 | 124 | 1,584 | 7.8 | 8.5 | 8.3 |
| 2018 | 115 | 1,498 | 7.7 | 9.1 | 9.2 |
| 2019 | 124 | 1,346 | 9.2 | 10.1 | 10.3 |
| 2020 | 74 | 1,201 | 6.2 | 7.6 | 7.6 |
| 2021 | 61 | 975 | 6.3 | 8.2 | 7.2 |
| 2022 | 101 | 963 | 10.5 | 9.3 | 9.1 |
| 2023 | 80 | 920 | 8.7 | 10.2 | 10.6 |
| 2024 | 83 | 993 | 8.4 | 9.5 | 9.6 |
Source: Statistics Korea, Vital Statistics of Multicultural Families.
Note: a marriage counts as multicultural when one spouse is a foreign national or a naturalized Korean. Statistics Korea does not split the wards of a large city, so a ward carries the value for the city named in the column header.
| Indicators | Dobong-gu | Seoul | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average wage, 2023 | 3,628 | 5,060 | 4,344 |
| Share aged 65 and over, 2024 | 24.5 | 19.4 | 20.0 |
| Fiscal independence, 2024 | 17.3 | 74.0 | 43.3 |
| Jobs per 1,000 residents, 2024 | 264 | 619 | 501 |
| Share of jobs in manufacturing, 2024 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 16.2 |
Source: NTS National Tax Statistics, year-end wage settlement by district; Statistics Korea e-Local Indicators (share aged 65 and over, fiscal independence, jobs per 1,000 residents, manufacturing jobs).
Note: neither agency splits the wards of a large city, so a ward carries the value for the city named in the column header.
| Scope | Organizations | or, per 10,000 registered foreigners, |
|---|---|---|
| Dobong-gu | 2 | 6.3 |
| Seoul | 255 | 9.1 |
| National | 1,473 | 9.2 |
Source: List of immigrant support organizations compiled by this site.
Note: a count of organizations is not a measure of how much service is provided, and the size and scope of each organization are not in this list.
Source: List of immigrant support organizations compiled by this site.
Note: Only organizations with an address in this district that serve people directly, that have not closed or gone dormant, and that have a website or social media account confirmed as their own are listed. An organization missing any one of the four does not appear, so one you know of may be absent. The table above counts only the categories used for the density figure, so the two numbers can differ.