Foreign enrollment in employment insurance swelled 2.6 times fold to 458,644 between 2021 and 2025, while benefit recipients rose only to 16,789 from 15,421.
Premiums levied on foreign regular workers nearly doubled to 177.3 billion won over the same period, outstripping payouts.
Coverage widened after a revision to the employment insurance act took effect in January 2021, making enrollment mandatory for workers on E-9 non-professional and H-2 visit-employment visas.
The rule was phased in by company size through 2023, though unemployment benefits remain optional for those workers.
Ethnic Koreans from China and other Chinese nationals collected 89.5 billion won, or 78.9 percent of the total, though they made up just 25.9 percent of insured foreign workers.
Viet Nam followed with 768 recipients, and the United States with 408.
Holders of long-term F-series visas accounted for more than nine in 10 recipients, led by permanent residents at 6,895, overseas Koreans at 4,900 and marriage migrants at 3,138. E-9 guest workers, who must leave the country if they cannot find new jobs, numbered only 20.
AJP Takeaways
- Unemployment benefits paid to foreign workers in South Korea reached a record 113.4 billion won in 2025, according to Ministry of Employment and Labor data submitted to the National Assembly on Sept. 19, 2026.
- Foreign employment insurance enrollment grew 2.6-fold to 458,644 from 2021 to 2025, while recipients rose to 16,789 from 15,421 and premiums nearly doubled to 177.3 billion won.
- About 96 percent of 2025 recipients held long-term F-series visas, while E-9 guest workers, who must leave Korea if they fail to find new jobs, accounted for only 20.
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