Travellers to North Korea unaffected; South Korea counts 31,665 visa over-stayers

More than 31,000 foreign students holding South Korean study visas were living in the country without permission as of August, according to Ministry of Justice data released on Friday. The figures cover students who entered on either D-2 visas for university degrees or D-4 visas for language training.

The data was obtained by People Power Party Rep. Kim Hee-jung, who said the figures showed gaps in how universities manage the students they recruit.

Key facts

• 31,665 foreign students on D-2 or D-4 visas were staying in South Korea illegally as of August.
• 21,719 of them held D-4 language study visas and 9,946 held D-2 degree visas.
• 29.2% of D-4 visa holders were in the country illegally, compared with 3.6% of D-2 holders.
• Vietnamese nationals made up 82.8% of the students staying illegally.
• Newly reported illegal residency cases at universities rose 12.2%, from 3,631 in 2025 to 4,074 this year.

What do the figures show?

The data draws a sharp line between the two student visa categories. Among language trainees on D-4 visas, the share staying illegally climbed from 25.3 percent in 2025 to 29.2 percent as of August this year — reversing a decline that had run since 2022, when the rate stood at 42.2 percent.

The total number of foreign language trainees in South Korea, including those without legal residency status, fell from 89,267 last year to 74,450 as of August. For degree students on D-2 visas, the illegal residency rate kept falling, from 7 percent in 2022 to 3.6 percent in August, even as the number of people in the D-2 category more than doubled over that period.

Who is affected?

Vietnamese nationals accounted for 82.8 percent of the foreign students staying illegally. They were followed by citizens of Uzbekistan at 2,033, Mongolia with 1,353, China with 731 and Nepal with 316.

The pattern partly reflects the strong Vietnamese presence in nondegree programs: Education Ministry figures put Vietnamese students at 46.1 percent of all international students enrolled in nondegree programs as of April 2026.

Where are cases being reported?

Newly reported illegal residency cases among foreign students rose from 3,631 in 2025 to 4,074 this year, made up of 1,872 degree-seeking students and 2,202 language trainees. More universities are reporting such cases: of 344 universities nationwide, 190 reported cases involving degree students this year, up from 182 in 2025, while the number reporting cases involving language trainees rose from 186 to 208.

Gyeonggi Province recorded the most newly reported cases this year, at 994, up from 710 last year. North Gyeongsang Province followed with 470, South Chungcheong Province with 402 and Seoul with 401. North Chungcheong Province saw the steepest rise, with cases jumping 158.2 percent from 134 to 346.

At one university in Jeonnam-Gwangju, 207 of the 690 foreign language trainees newly admitted in 2025 later became illegally resident.

What is being proposed?

Kim criticised universities for recruiting foreign students without adequate systems to keep them enrolled and legally resident, saying institutions "have become backdoor channels for illegal residency." She called on the Education Ministry and the Justice Ministry to carry out a comprehensive review of the international student system, covering visa screening and admissions through to residency monitoring and follow-up management.

What this means for travellers

No new visa rules, fees or deadlines have been announced as part of this data. For students already in South Korea on a D-2 or D-4 visa, the figures point to close official attention on whether study visas are being used for their stated purpose, so keeping enrolment and residency status in order matters. Anyone planning to study in South Korea should check which visa category applies to their programme — D-2 for degree courses, D-4 for language training.

No timetable has been announced for the review Kim requested. The figures themselves relate to the situation as of August.