The number of foreigners employed in South Korea hit a record high of nearly 1 million this year. (Source: Bloomberg)

According to data compiled by Statistics Korea, the number of foreigners aged 15 and older residing in the country reached 1.43 million as of May this year, and 923,000 of them were employed here. Both figures were up about 10% from the previous year, reaching record highs.

Among foreign workers, 78.8% work in companies with fewer than 50 employees while 18.1% work in companies with 50 to 299 employees. The data shows that only 3% work in large companies with more than 300 employees.

By nationality, 35.3% (the largest proportion) of Koreans have Chinese nationality, followed by Vietnamese with 11.3% and Chinese with 4.9%.

Figures show that about 33% of foreigners here have a monthly income of between 2 million won ($1,535) and 3 million won, of which 24.4% earn more than 3 million won/month.