Over 10,000 Naturalized Citizens Last Year, More Than Half Were Chinese

Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand Follow
25,000 People Gave Up Korean Nationality

Chinese group tourists entering the country (photo to aid understanding of the article). Photo by Kang Jinhyung

The number of naturalized citizens who acquired Korean nationality last year exceeded 11,000, marking the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, it turned out that 1 out of every 2 new citizens was Chinese.

According to the monthly statistics report of the Korea Immigration Service at the Ministry of Justice on the 4th, 11,344 out of 18,623 people who applied for naturalization last year ultimately acquired Korean nationality.

The number of naturalized citizens peaked at 13,885 in 2020, up from 9,914 in 2019, and then began to decline. However, it rebounded to 10,346 in 2023 and 11,008 in 2024, showing a clear upward trend.

By nationality, Chinese accounted for the largest share of new citizens at 56.5% (6,420 people). This is the highest level since the pandemic. They were followed by Vietnamese (23.4%), Filipinos (3.1%), and Thais (2.2%).

The number of people who had previously lost Korean nationality and later regained it, known as "nationality restoration cases," also increased. The number of people who restored their nationality surged from 1,764 in 2020 to 4,037 last year, more than doubling. Among those who restored their nationality, people from Japan accounted for the largest share at 3.2%, followed by China (2.5%) and Vietnam (0.8%).

By contrast, 25,002 people gave up (lost or renounced) their Korean nationality, down 5.6% from the previous year. Among them, 18,015 people, or 72.1%, chose U.S. citizenship.

The government is operating programs such as the Social Integration Program to help foreigners settle in Korea. Last year alone, about 120,000 immigrants participated in related education.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.