Illegal immigrants on rise: data

SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- The number of foreign nationals staying in South Korea illegally increased by nearly 100,000 on-year to surpass 330,000 this year, government data showed Sunday.

According to the data by the Ministry of Justice, 330,005 foreigners were staying in the country without a valid visa as of July, up 97,834 from 232,171 logged July of last year.

The data -- which showed the number of illegal aliens over the past 10 years -- was submitted to the National Assembly.

The annual average number of reported crimes committed by foreigners came to 43,635 over the past five years, the data showed.

The number came to 34,460 in 2013 and steadily increased to peak at 53,151 in 2016 and slightly down to 45,671 in 2017.

khj@yna.co.kr
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