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The number of North Americans working in Korea sharply increases

October 27, 2014
(Newsis)

The number of North Americans working in South Korea has jumped by 12 percent in just one year. (Newsis)

By Kim Chul-soo

The number of North Americans working in Korea has grown to about 46,000, a 12 percent increase since last year, according to an employment survey released by Statistics Korea Friday.

There are 1.2 million foreigners over age 15 living in Korea, with 852,000, or 67.8 percent, employed, the survey said.

Chinese Korean workers comprised the largest group, with 386,000, followed by Vietnamese (72,000), Chinese (54,000) and North Americans, including Korean Americans, at 46,000.

Males made up 66.6 percent of the foreign workforce. In terms of age, workers aged 30-39 made up 30.2 percent, followed by 20-29 at 28.6 percent.

Foreign workers make up 3.3 percent of the Korean workforce. A majority of those workers do not make more than $2,000 per month, and one out of three puts in more than 60 hours of work per week, Statistics Korea said.