Korea Immigration Regional Dashboard
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Statuses of stay number 29, and the groups that hold them number 6.
Specially Designated Activities
The status code is E7, and it covers Professional, managerial and skilled work in fields specially designated by the Minister of Justice.
People registered under the Specially Designated Activities (E7) status number 81,723, which is 5.1% of all registered foreigners. Compared with 19,737 in 2015, 10 years earlier, that is an increase of about 314.1%. The largest nationalities are Vietnam at 18.3%, Nepal at 13.9%, and China at 11.9%. They are found in 250 districts, and the largest counts are Geoje-si with 5,323, Hwaseong-si with 4,315, and Dong-gu with 3,984.
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 | Specially Designated Activities | All registered foreigners | Relative to total |
|---|---|---|---|
| People | 81,723 | 1,604,920 | 5.1% of the total |
| Nationalities counted | 143 | 192 | 74.5% of the total |
| Districts of residence | 250 | 250 | All districts |
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook (registered foreigners by status of stay, registered foreigners by status of stay and district).
Specially Designated Activities ranks #2 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 Specially Designated Activities falls under.
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook, each year.
Putting the status and the group on one axis shows the share Specially Designated Activities takes within the E group.
View as table
| Year | Specially Designated Activities | all of the E group | Share of family |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 5,512 | 257,316 | 2.1 |
| 2007 | 6,955 | 241,714 | 2.9 |
| 2008 | 8,195 | 242,056 | 3.4 |
| 2009 | 8,705 | 241,071 | 3.6 |
| 2010 | 10,382 | 266,374 | 3.9 |
| 2011 | 13,826 | 285,257 | 4.8 |
| 2012 | 16,865 | 282,942 | 6.0 |
| 2013 | 17,723 | 300,773 | 5.9 |
| 2014 | 18,556 | 326,296 | 5.7 |
| 2015 | 19,737 | 332,346 | 5.9 |
| 2016 | 20,968 | 335,438 | 6.3 |
| 2017 | 20,684 | 333,420 | 6.2 |
| 2018 | 21,382 | 336,198 | 6.4 |
| 2019 | 20,997 | 332,025 | 6.3 |
| 2020 | 19,258 | 291,414 | 6.6 |
| 2021 | 20,371 | 273,499 | 7.4 |
| 2022 | 23,650 | 322,080 | 7.3 |
| 2023 | 44,310 | 400,033 | 11.1 |
| 2024 | 62,975 | 455,307 | 13.8 |
| 2025 | 81,723 | 493,577 | 16.6 |
| Rank | Nationality | Persons | Within Specially Designated Activities | Within nationality | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vietnam | 14,995 | 18.3 | 5.1 | |
| 2 | Nepal | 11,329 | 13.9 | 12.7 | |
| 3 | China | 9,740 | 11.9 | 4.3 | |
| 4 | Sri Lanka | 6,507 | 8.0 | 17.6 | |
| 5 | Bangladesh | 4,979 | 6.1 | 15.4 | |
| 6 | Cambodia | 4,940 | 6.0 | 7.6 | |
| 7 | Indonesia | 4,889 | 6.0 | 7.9 | |
| 8 | Myanmar | 4,444 | 5.4 | 7.7 | |
| 9 | Thailand | 3,338 | 4.1 | 7.3 | |
| 10 | Philippines | 3,325 | 4.1 | 6.1 | |
| 11 | Other countries (133) | 13,237 | 16.2 | - |
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 Specially Designated Activities.
| Rank | District | Specially Designated Activities | Share of local foreigners | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gyeongsangnam-do Geoje-si | 5,323 | 32.2 | |
| 2 | Gyeonggi-do Hwaseong-si | 4,315 | 7.9 | |
| 3 | Ulsan Dong-gu | 3,984 | 35.8 | |
| 4 | Jeju-do Jeju-si | 2,546 | 13.8 | |
| 5 | Gyeongsangnam-do Gimhae-si | 2,398 | 8.8 | |
| 6 | Jeollanam-do Yeongam-gun | 2,183 | 20.9 | |
| 7 | Gyeonggi-do Gimpo-si | 2,161 | 8.2 | |
| 8 | Jeju-do Seogwipo-si | 1,596 | 15.8 | |
| 9 | Gyeonggi-do Siheung-si | 1,580 | 3.7 | |
| 10 | Gyeonggi-do Pocheon-si | 1,453 | 8.6 |
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook (registered foreigners by status of stay and district).
Note: In the district file, Specially Designated Activities totals 81,723, 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 | Specially Designated Activities | Share of national |
|---|---|---|
| Gyeonggi-do | 21,666 | 26.5 |
| Gyeongsangnam-do | 13,058 | 16.0 |
| Seoul | 8,554 | 10.5 |
| Ulsan | 5,409 | 6.6 |
| Chungcheongnam-do | 4,947 | 6.1 |
| Jeju-do | 4,142 | 5.1 |
| Gyeongsangbuk-do | 4,010 | 4.9 |
| Jeollanam-do | 3,953 | 4.8 |
| Chungcheongbuk-do | 3,480 | 4.3 |
| Incheon | 3,185 | 3.9 |
| Busan | 2,953 | 3.6 |
| Jeollabuk-do | 2,119 | 2.6 |
| Daegu | 1,752 | 2.1 |
| Gangwon-do | 838 | 1.0 |
| Gwangju | 790 | 1.0 |
| Daejeon | 557 | 0.7 |
| Sejong | 310 | 0.4 |