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Status

Migrant youth status (general)
Children of foreign residents 315,398명 Population (persons), Ministry of Public Administration and Security (2024.11.01.) (0-18 years old)
Mid-immigrant adolescents 12,740명 Ministry of Education (2025. 8.) (Elementary and Secondary School Students)
Youth with North Korean Background 2,915명 Ministry of Education (2025. 4.) (Elementary and Secondary School Students)
Current status of children of foreign residents
Current Status of children of foreign residents by Age Unit: people
Division Total Under 6 years old 7-12 years old 13-15 years old 16-18 years old
2024 315,398 102,380 108,877 57,825 46,316
2023 308,402 104,763 110,577 55,483 37,579
2022 299,440 109,081 109,519 51,546 29,894
2021 223,508 108,953 66,021 43,433 22,588
2020 275,990 115,579 107,286 34,445 18,680
2019 264,626 117,045 104,064 26,524 16,993
Source: Ministry of the Interior and Safety 2024 Local Government Foreign Residents status(2024.11.01)
  • Note)Children of naturalized Korean citizens and children of non-Korean nationals married to Korean citizens
Status by the type of children from foreign population Unit: people
Division Total Domestic born children Naturalized and children with foreign nationality
Subtotal Male Female Subtotal Male Female Subtotal Male Female
2024 315,398 160,854 154,544 295,304 151,189 144,115 20,094 9,665 10,429
2023 308,402 157,348 151,054 289,886 148,449 141,437 18,516 8,899 9,617
2022 299,440 152,620 146,820 282,077 144,310 137,767 17,363 8,310 9,053
Increase and decrease 8,962 4,728 4,234 7,809 4,139 3,670 1,153 589 564
3.0% 3.1% 2.9% 2.8% 2.9% 2.7% 6.7% 7.1% 6.2%
Source: Ministry of the Interior and Safety 2024 Local Government Foreign Residents status(2024.11.01)
Current status of Mid-immigrant adolescents
Number of children in multicultural families
by age and growth background Unit: %, persons/estimate
Growing in Korea only Living and growing up abroad Whole
Subtotal Foreign residence experience Mainly grown abroad
Total 100.0 (289,480) 100.0 (23,590) 100.0 (12,558) 100.0 (11,032) 100.0 (313,070)
Age Under 8 years old 34.9 11.2 13.9 8.0 33.1
9-11 years old 17.0 9.6 11.3 7.7 16.4
12-14 years old 18.1 12.2 14.0 10.2 17.7
15-17 years old 15.3 14.6 20.0 8.5 15.2
18-24 years old 11.4 16.6 16.7 16.6 11.8
25 years and older 3.4 35.9 24.3 49.1 5.8
Source: 2024 National Survey on Multicultural Families (Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, August 2024)
  • Note 1) The number of children from multicultural families aged 9 to 24 is 191,281.
  • Note 2) Estimated using weights based on the total number of multicultural family children in the 2023 Population Census of Statistics Korea
Status of foreign residents by age Unit: people
Division 0-14 years old 15-19 years old 20-24 years old Total
2025 Total 164,966 99,271 319,590 583,827
Male 83,358 47,542 167,273 298,173
Female 81,608 51,727 152,309 285,644
The third gender 0 2 8 10
2024 Total 151,929 84,631 287,522 524,082
Male 76,839 40,881 151,742 269,462
Female 75,090 43,749 135,776 254,615
The third gender 0 1 4 5
2023 Total 141,102 69,200 251,827 462,129
Male 71,529 33,640 130,361 235,530
Female 69,573 35,560 121,466 226,599
The third gender 0 0 0 0
2022 Total 126,345 52,486 215,330 394,161
Male 63,930 25,186 108,642 197,758
Female 62,415 27,299 106,687 196,401
The third gender 0 1 1 2
2021 Total 103,348 31,317 174,137 308,802
Male 52,586 14,790 89,452 156,828
Female 50,762 16,527 84,685 151,974
Source: 2024 Immigration and Foreigner Policy Statistical Yearbook (Ministry of Justice, 2025.06.)
School enrollment status of children from multicultural families
Number of students from multicultural families by year Unit: people
Year 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Number of students 137,225 147,378 160,056 168,645 181,178 193,814 202,208
Ratio to total students 2.5% 2.8% 3.0% 3.2% 3.2% 3.8% 4.0%
Source: Basic Education Statistics by Ministry of Education (2025. 08.)
School enrollment status of children from multicultural families Unit: people
Division Total Elementary school Middle school High school Various schools
2025 Domestic born 136,592 76,201 36,069 24,087 235
Mid-immigrant 12,740 6,216 3,636 2,604 284
Foreign families 52,876 34,184 11,467 6,931 294
Subtotal 202,208 116,601 51,172 33,622 813
2024 Domestic born 134,817 80,155 34,682 19,811 169
Mid-immigrant 11,987 6,037 3,201 2,412 337
Foreign families 47,010 31,267 10,027 5,450 266
Subtotal 193,814 117,459 47,910 27,673 772
2023 Domestic born 129,910 82,491 32,210 15,063 146
Mid-immigrant 10,896 5,617 3,108 1,928 243
Foreign families 40,372 27,531 8,380 4,199 262
Subtotal 181,178 115,639 43,698 21,190 651
2022 Domestic born 126,029 84,241 29,940 11,614 234
Mid-immigrant 9,938 5,087 2,874 1,784 193
Foreign families 32,678 22,312 6,900 3,346 120
Subtotal 168,645 111,640 39,714 16,744 547
2021 Domestic born 122,095 86,399 25,368 10,183 145
Mid-immigrant 9,427 4,953 2,773 1,519 182
Foreign families 28,536 20,019 5,809 2,606 102
Subtotal 160,058 111,371 33,950 14,308 429
Source: Basic Education Statistics by Ministry of Education (2025. 08.)
  • Note 1) Number of multicultural students = Children of international marriage families (Domestic born children + Mid-immigrant children) + Children of foreign families
  • Note 2) Domestic born : Children of international marriage families who were born in Korea
  • Note 3) Mid-immigrant : Children of international marriage families who were born abroad and entered Korea with their parents midway.
  • Note 4) Foreign families : Children born to foreigners
Current status of North Korean defectors youth
The status of North Korean defectors youth entering the country by year. Unit: people
Target/Year 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Total(numbers of people entering the country) 1,047 229 63 67 196 236 223
Adolescents (9-24 years old) 228 46 ** ** ** ** **
Source: Ministry of Unification (2026. 03.), 2026 Settlement Support Implementation Plan for North Korean Defectors

*Status of Entry by Age Since 2021 Undisclosed

Current Status by Age (End of June 2025) Unit: people
Division Male Female Total (Persons)
0-9 years old 9 9 18
10-19 years old 240 247 487
20-29 years old 980 1,306 2,286
Source: Ministry of Unification (2025. 06.), Major Statistics on North Korean Defectors

*Based on current age. The figures exclude some individuals who recently entered Korea and are residing in protection facilities, resulting in a difference from the total number of entrants.

School enrollment Status of North Korean defector youth by School Type Unit: people
Division School Total
Elementary school Middle school High school Other school *
Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
Attending status
(’25.04.) 		549 535 403 398 399 396 112 123 2,915
1,084 801 795 235
Source: Ministry of Education, Statistics on Students with North Korean Background (2025.04.01)
  • * Special schools, miscellaneous schools, civic schools, advanced civic schools, advanced technical schools, broadcasting and correspondence middle/high schools, and accredited lifelong education facilities, etc.
Enrollment status by school type and year Unit: person, %
Year Elementary school Middle school High school Other school Total
Number of students Ratio Number of students Ratio Number of students Ratio Number of students Ratio
25.04 1,084 (37.2) 801 (27.5) 795 (27.3) 235 (8.1) 2,915
24.04 965 (36.5) 699 (26.4) 748 (28.3) 233 (8.8) 2,645
23.04 421 (23.8) 513 (29.0) 684 (38.7) 151 (8.5) 1,769
22.04 522 (25.3) 659 (32.0) 725 (35.2) 155 (7.5) 2,061
21.04 654 (28.6) 740 (32.4) 739 (32.3) 154 (6.7) 2,287
20.04 741 (30.4) 782 (32.1) 738 (30.3) 176 (7.2) 2,437
19.04 877 (34.6) 738 (29.2) 752 (29.7) 164 (6.5) 2,531
Source: Ministry of Education, Statistics on Students with North Korean Background (2025.04.01)
  • *Since 2018, 'Elementary, Middle, and High Schools' and 'Other Schools' have been reported separately in accordance with the methodology of the Educational Statistics for Kindergarten, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
  • *Since 2024, students born in Korea have been included in the statistics.
Enrollment Status by Year and Place of Birth Unit: person, %
Year Division Number of enrolled students
Elementary school Middle school High school Other school Total
2025 Born in North Korea 46(4.2%) 63(7.9%) 153(19.2%) 28(11.9%) 290(9.9%)
Born in a third country such as China 246(22.7%) 239(29.8%) 360(45.3%) 174(74.0%) 1,019(35.0%)
Born in Korea 792(73.1%) 499(62.3%) 282(35.5%) 33(14.0%) 1,606(55.1%)
Total 1,084 801 795 235 2,915
2024 Born in North Korea 52(5.4%) 94(13.4%) 208(27.8) 178(11.2) 380(14.4)
Born in a third country such as China 289(29.9%) 299(42.8%) 388(51.9%) 178(76.4%) 1,154(43.6%)
Born in Korea 624(64.7%) 306(43.8%) 152(20.3%) 29(12.4%) 1,111(42.0%)
Total 965 699 748 233 2,645
2023 Born in North Korea 72(17.1%) 149(29%) 258(37.7%) 33(21.9%) 512(28.9%)
Born in a third country such as China 349(82.9%) 364(71%) 426(62.3%) 118(78.1%) 1,257(71.1%)
Total 421 513 684 151 1,769
2022 Born in North Korea 92(17.6%) 194(29.4%) 305(42.1%) 44(28.4%) 635(30.8%)
Born in a third country such as China 430(82.4%) 465(70.6%) 420(57.9%) 111(71.6%) 1,426(69.2%)
Total 522 659 725 155 2,061
2021 Born in North Korea 127(19.4%) 238(32.2%) 355(48%) 69(44.8%) 789(34.5%)
Born in a third country such as China 527(80.6%) 502(67.8%) 384(52%) 85(55.2%) 1,498(65.5%)
Total 654 740 739 154 2,287
Source: Ministry of Education, Statistics on Students with North Korean Background (2025.04.01)
  • Born in North Korea: Students born in areas north of the Military Demarcation Line (North Korea)
  • Born in a Third Country: Students born in a third country, such as China, with at least one parent being a North Korean defector
  • Born in Korea: Students born in Korea with at least one parent being a North Korean defector