Recently, Thailand media quoted the Korea Herald as saying that there are still as many as 140,000 Thailand illegally staying in South Korea. According to statistics from the Korea legal department, 423,675 foreigners have overstayed their visas by the end of 2023, accounting for 16.9% of all foreigners in South Korea.
Of these, nearly 45 percent of visa expectations are for foreigners to enter Korea through the Visa Waiver Program, of which at least 169,283 are on B-1 visas, which are short-term visas of 30-180 days and do not allow holders to work or study, and the rest are on B-2 transit visas. Thailand ranked first among the number of overstayers in the above two types of visas, with a total of 145,042 people, accounting for 76.3%.
According to the Korea Herald, there is still an unanswered question as to why so many foreigners overstay or do not apply for work visas while holding the above two types of visas. But as we all know, these people are often working illegally to earn money, so the Korea government needs to take action to address the problem more effectively.