Analyses & Etudes • Veille
The French Community in Korea records a significant growth in 2022
After two years of pandemic and on-and-off border closure, the French-Korean relationship is back on track, as shown by the skyrocketing figures of the French community in Korea!
As of November 2022, Korean authorities identified a record number of 9,800 French nationals on their territory (+123% YoY), making France the most important European community in the Peninsula.
As business visas have remained relatively stable YoY, this rise mostly comes from an influx of Working Holiday visas (H1), that exceeded the 600-delivery threshold for the first time since the program’s launch, and of student visas (D2), with a whopping number of 1,900 D2-visa holders in November and a never-seen-before peak at nearly 3,000 in the middle of the year.
Last but not least, the increase in marriage-visa deliveries witnessed over the past few years remained consistent to reach 750 F6-holders by the end of 2022 (i.e., an 87,5% leap since 2018).
As Korea attracts growing attention through its creative industries, works closer than ever with the French government, and plans on launching new visa types (the K-Culture and digital nomad visas), it is very likely this upward trend will intensify in 2023 and the years to come.
Learn more about the evolution of the French population in Korea along the years
