Vietnamese residents have overtaken Americans as the second biggest foreign population in South Korea for the second consecutive month.
According to the Korea Immigration Service on Tuesday, 147-thousand Vietnamese people were living in South Korea as of the end of last month.
They made up seven-point-four percent of all foreign nationals residing in the country, becoming the second largest foreigner group after Chinese nationals, which accounted for 50-point-two percent.
It is the second month in a row that Vietnamese outnumbered Americans, who were tallied at 140-thousand, or seven percent of all foreign residents in the country.
The rise in the Vietnamese population is largely attributed to more international marriages by South Koreans. As of the end of last month, 41-thousand-900 Vietnamese spouses, or 27-and-a-half percent of all foreign spouses of South Koreans were Vietnamese.
The number of Vietnamese people on working visas also increased to over 48-thousand, making them the second largest working visa-holders after Chinese people.
Meanwhile, the number of foreign residents in South Korea fell by one-point-three percent from last month to just under two million.
Source: KBS World Radio
