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Statuses of stay number 29, and the groups that hold them number 6.
Specialized Occupation
The status code is E5, and it covers People holding state-recognized professional qualifications in law, accounting, medicine and similar fields.
People registered under the Specialized Occupation (E5) status number 221, which is less than 0.1% of all registered foreigners. Compared with 605 in 2015, 10 years earlier, that is a decrease of about 63.5%. The largest nationalities are Malaysia at 10%, Australia at 6.3%, and Russia at 5.9%. They are found in 11 districts, and the largest counts are Gangseo-gu with 200, Seo-gu with 7, and Yongsan-gu with 4.
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook on Immigration and Foreign Policy 2025 (registered foreigners by status of stay, registered foreigners by status of stay and district)
Note: the status families are exactly as the yearbook groups them. The overseas Korean status (F-4) does not appear on this page. Its holders file a place-of-residence report rather than a foreign-resident registration, so they are outside the registered foreigner statistics; they are not absent from the country. On the staying basis they were the largest single status in 2025, at 556,288.
| Indicators | Specialized Occupation | All registered foreigners | Relative to total |
|---|---|---|---|
| People | 221 | 1,604,920 | under 0.1% of the total |
| Nationalities counted | 39 | 192 | 20.3% of the total |
| Districts of residence | 11 | 250 | 4.4% of the total |
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook (registered foreigners by status of stay, registered foreigners by status of stay and district).
Specialized Occupation ranks #9 by size within the E group.
| Family | Persons | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| F family, residence, family, and overseas Koreans | 589,527 | 36.7 | |
| E family, employment | 493,577 | 30.8 | |
| D family, study, training and investment | 341,450 | 21.3 | |
| H group, Visiting Employment and Working Holiday | 84,971 | 5.3 | |
| G group, other | 61,380 | 3.8 | |
| Outside the families, other statuses | 34,015 | 2.1 |
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook (registered foreigners by status of stay).
The 6 groups sum to 1,604,920, the same as all registered foreigners.
Note: a family is the sum of the statuses inside it, so adding a family together with its individual statuses counts the same people twice.
The jade bar is the E group, the group Specialized Occupation falls under.
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook, each year.
Putting the status and the group on one axis shows the share Specialized Occupation takes within the E group.
View as table
| Year | Specialized Occupation | all of the E group | Share of family |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 345 | 257,316 | 0.1 |
| 2007 | 411 | 241,714 | 0.2 |
| 2008 | 508 | 242,056 | 0.2 |
| 2009 | 531 | 241,071 | 0.2 |
| 2010 | 593 | 266,374 | 0.2 |
| 2011 | 628 | 285,257 | 0.2 |
| 2012 | 692 | 282,942 | 0.2 |
| 2013 | 665 | 300,773 | 0.2 |
| 2014 | 644 | 326,296 | 0.2 |
| 2015 | 605 | 332,346 | 0.2 |
| 2016 | 613 | 335,438 | 0.2 |
| 2017 | 596 | 333,420 | 0.2 |
| 2018 | 604 | 336,198 | 0.2 |
| 2019 | 606 | 332,025 | 0.2 |
| 2020 | 371 | 291,414 | 0.1 |
| 2021 | 257 | 273,499 | 0.1 |
| 2022 | 238 | 322,080 | 0.1 |
| 2023 | 223 | 400,033 | 0.1 |
| 2024 | 213 | 455,307 | 0.0 |
| 2025 | 221 | 493,577 | 0.0 |
| Rank | Nationality | Persons | Within Specialized Occupation | Within nationality | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Malaysia | 22 | 10.0 | 0.4 | |
| 2 | Australia | 14 | 6.3 | 0.7 | |
| 3 | Russia | 13 | 5.9 | 0.1 | |
| 4 | Canada | 13 | 5.9 | 0.3 | |
| 5 | Japan | 12 | 5.4 | 0.0 | |
| 6 | Taiwan | 12 | 5.4 | 0.1 | |
| 7 | Italy | 10 | 4.5 | 0.7 | |
| 8 | Brazil | 9 | 4.1 | 0.6 | |
| 9 | United Kingdom | 9 | 4.1 | 0.2 | |
| 10 | New Zealand | 8 | 3.6 | 1.1 | |
| 11 | Other countries (29) | 99 | 44.8 | - |
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook (registered foreigners by status of stay and nationality).
The within-nationality column is the share of that country's registered foreigners who hold Specialized Occupation.
| Rank | District | Specialized Occupation | Share of local foreigners | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seoul Gangseo-gu | 200 | 3.0 | |
| 2 | Incheon Seo-gu | 7 | 0.0 | |
| 3 | Seoul Yongsan-gu | 4 | 0.0 | |
| 4 | Incheon Yeonsu-gu | 2 | 0.0 | |
| 5 | Incheon Jung-gu | 2 | 0.0 | |
| 6 | Gyeonggi-do Goyang-si Ilsandong-gu | 1 | 0.0 | |
| 7 | Busan Busanjin-gu | 1 | 0.0 | |
| 8 | Seoul Gangnam-gu | 1 | 0.0 | |
| 9 | Seoul Gwangjin-gu | 1 | 0.0 | |
| 10 | Seoul Nowon-gu | 1 | 0.0 |
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook (registered foreigners by status of stay and district).
Note: In the district file, Specialized Occupation totals 221, the same as the nationwide count.
| Status | Persons | Within group | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-professional Employment(E9) | 336,713 | 68.2 | |
| Specially Designated Activities(E7) | 81,723 | 16.6 | |
| Seasonal Worker(E8) | 31,609 | 6.4 | |
| Crew Employment(E10) | 20,920 | 4.2 | |
| Foreign Language Instructor(E2) | 12,864 | 2.6 | |
| Arts & Entertainment(E6) | 4,224 | 0.9 | |
| Researcher(E3) | 3,365 | 0.7 | |
| Professor(E1) | 1,729 | 0.4 | |
| Specialized Occupation(E5) | 221 | 0.0 | |
| Technical Instructor(E4) | 209 | 0.0 |
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook on Immigration and Foreign Policy (registered foreigners by status of stay).
Note: the teal bar is the status you selected. Selecting a status outside a family shows that status alone.
Count range
Note: The boundaries are shapes simplified for display and are drawn as pen lines. The fill values are the provincial totals from the yearbook and do not depend on the shapes.
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook (registered foreigners by district and status of stay), summed to the province level.
Note: The map shades the 17 provinces, and the same values are also held for the 250 districts.
View as table
| Province | Specialized Occupation | Share of national |
|---|---|---|
| Seoul | 208 | 94.1 |
| Incheon | 11 | 5.0 |
| Gyeonggi-do | 1 | 0.5 |
| Busan | 1 | 0.5 |