Nearly 9 in 10 immigrant workers in South Korea earned more than 2 million won ($1,380) per month last year, but long hours remained common with 1 in 4 working over 50 hours per week, according to a survey by the Ministry of Justice and Statistics Korea on Tuesday.
In May 2024, the offices surveyed 25,000 immigrants, comprising 20,000 foreign nationals who are registered in the government’s residence system and 5,000 people who had become naturalized Korean citizens since 2019.
Some 51 percent of respondents said they earned between 2 million won and 3 million won a month, while 37 percent earned more than 3 million won. The proportion of workers from overseas earning over 2 million won recorded 88 percent, a 2 percent increase from 2023.
In 2024, the minimum wage for workers in South Korea was 9,860 won per hour, or about 2.06 million won per month, based on a 40-hour week.
Among respondents who identified as wage earners, 45.6 percent worked in the mining and manufacturing industries, followed by the wholesale, retail, accommodation and food industries, private businesses and public service.
Average working hours were down slightly on last year, at 43.2 per week.
About 58 percent said they work 40 to 50 hours a week.
Though South Korea has a 52-hour workweek system that limits employees to 40 regular hours and 12 hours of overtime per week, 16.9 percent of respondents said their working hours were between 50 and 60 hours.
The same survey showed that 9 percent of respondents worked more than 60 hours a week.
The survey included students, who mostly worked part-time. Marriage migrants were also more likely to work shorter hours, with 16.5 percent working less than 30 hours a week.
The longest hours were worked by people on F-4, F-5 and H-2 visas, all of which are mostly held by ethnic Koreans with Chinese nationality.
Meanwhile, the report showed Korean Chinese made up the largest group of immigrants, followed by Vietnamese and other Chinese nationals.
The data showed that more than half of the immigrant population resided in Greater Seoul, which includes the capital, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province.
Some 10 percent of the foreign nationals and nationalized citizens resided in the North and South Chungcheong Provinces and in southeastern areas of South Korea, including South Gyeongsang Province, Busan and Ulsan. Another 7.8 percent lived in Gwangju and the North and South Jeolla Provinces, while 6.8 percent reported living in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province.
The report added that only a combined 3.3 percent of immigrants live in Gangwon Province and on Jeju Island.
The survey didn't include people who were in the country illegally, who made up about 400,000 of the 2.6 million foreign nationals in South Korea as of January.
Asked whether they were satisfied with their overall life in the country, the majority of immigrants here expressed satisfaction, or a cumulative 4.3 points out of 5.
However, discrimination was presented as a problem that persists here, with 17.4 percent of immigrants revealing that they had personally experienced discrimination. The biggest reason cited was for country of origin. Some reported their experiences with discrimination were due to Korean language proficiency, as well as appearance, occupation or salary.
sj_lee@heraldcorp.com
