South Korea had 2.87 million foreign nationals in the country at the end of August 2026, according to immigration data from the Ministry of Justice.
That figure was 5.3% higher than a year earlier.
But the number needs to be read carefully.
It includes both long-term residents and people on short-term stays, including tourists. At the end of August, 2.25 million foreign nationals were classified as long-term residents, while 629,406 were on short-term stays.
So 2.87 million should not be described as the number of foreign residents permanently living in Korea.
Where people are concentrated
Among 1.64 million registered foreign nationals, 51.5% lived in the greater Seoul area.
Another 21.3% lived in the southeastern provinces of North and South Gyeongsang.
That concentration helps explain why services for foreigners - housing assistance, banking help, translation, SIM setup, healthcare navigation and everyday administrative support - are not a niche issue limited to tourists.
They are part of daily life for a large population already inside Korea.
Who is here
Chinese nationals made up the largest share of foreign nationals in the country at 34.6%, or 995,562 people.
Vietnamese nationals were the next largest group at 383,244, followed by Americans at 181,325.
The overall foreign-national population has been rising since the pandemic-era decline in 2021, when the number dropped below 2 million.
Why SEEN IN KOREA is tracking this
Korea is usually explained to global audiences through tourism, entertainment and exports.
But millions of foreign nationals are experiencing Korea from inside the country.
They are opening bank accounts, signing leases, visiting hospitals, raising children, studying, working, shopping and trying to understand systems that are often built first for Korean speakers.
That experience is one of the reasons SEEN IN KOREA is building 100 Voices: Korea.
We want to ask people living here what is actually difficult, what works surprisingly well, what they keep buying, and what they wish Korea made easier.
The official population data tells us the scale.
The interviews should tell us what the number feels like in real life.