Recipients rose from 1,727 to 2,677 in three years; payouts jumped from 9.5 billion to 16.5 billion won

Rate of increase outpaces overall foreign recipient growth by 16 percentage points

Permanent residents, overseas Koreans and marriage migrants account for 93.6%

The unemployment benefit application counter at the Seobu Employment and Welfare Plus Center in Mapo-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]
The unemployment benefit application counter at the Seobu Employment and Welfare Plus Center in Mapo-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]

The number of foreign nationals who collected unemployment benefits more than once rose 55 percent over three years, with total payouts to that group surging nearly 73 percent over the same period. The faster growth rate among repeat recipients compared with overall foreign claimants has prompted calls to examine the underlying causes of recurring unemployment.

According to data submitted to People Power Party lawmaker Lee Heon-seung of the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, 2,677 foreign nationals received job-seeking benefits — commonly known as unemployment benefits — two or more times last year. That was up 950, or 55.0 percent, from 1,727 in 2022. The benefit-receipt count is based on the number of times a recipient has drawn job-seeking benefits within the past five years, measured from the payment date.

The number of recipients with two or more claims climbed steadily — from 1,727 in 2022 to 2,010 in 2023, 2,295 in 2024 and 2,677 last year. Payouts to this group rose 72.9 percent, from 9.53 billion won ($7.01 million) in 2022 to 16.47 billion won last year. The figures reflect only the amount paid in the given year for that particular claiming period, not a cumulative total of past payouts.

Over the same period, the total number of foreign job-seeking benefit recipients grew 39.0 percent, from 12,081 to 16,789 — meaning the repeat-recipient growth rate exceeded the overall rate by 16.0 percentage points. Total job-seeking benefit payouts to all foreign nationals rose 49.3 percent, from 75.97 billion won to 113.4 billion won.

The number of recipients with three or more claims also increased, rising 41.9 percent over three years — from 229 in 2022 to 248 in 2023, 276 in 2024 and 325 last year.

Repeat recipients accounted for 14.3 percent of all foreign benefit claimants in 2022, rising to 15.9 percent last year, a gain of 1.6 percentage points. On a year-by-year basis, however, the share stood at 15.9 percent in 2023, 16.2 percent in 2024 and 15.9 percent last year, meaning the proportion edged down slightly from the prior year.

Breaking down last year's repeat recipients by residency status, permanent residents (F-5 visa) made up the largest group at 1,355, followed by overseas Koreans (F-4) at 650 and marriage migrants (F-6) at 502. Combined, the three categories totaled 2,507 people, or 93.6 percent of all repeat recipients.

Among those with three or more claims, permanent residents again topped the list at 179, followed by marriage migrants at 76 and overseas Koreans at 51. The three categories together accounted for 306 of the 325 total, or 94.2 percent.

By nationality, ethnic Koreans with Chinese citizenship were the largest group among last year's repeat recipients at 1,761, followed by Chinese nationals at 374. The two groups combined totaled 2,135, representing 79.8 percent of all repeat recipients. Vietnam came next at 94, followed by Japan at 87 and the United States at 68.

Among those with three or more claims, ethnic Koreans with Chinese citizenship numbered 169 and Chinese nationals 49, for a combined total of 218, or 67.1 percent of the 325 in that category.

"The number of foreign job-seeking benefit recipients is growing, and those collecting benefits more than once are increasing at an even faster pace," Lee said. "We need to analyze the causes of recurring unemployment that lie behind the rise in repeat claims."


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