A majority of registered foreigners staying in the country long term to study or work reside in Seoul or the surrounding area.

According to data from the Korea Immigration Service on Saturday, as of November there were a record one-point-61 million registered foreigners staying in the country for at least 90 days, up eight percent from a year earlier.

In contrast, the number of registered foreign nationals staying in the country as a whole during the same period saw an on-year increase of only three-point-two-percent.

Fifty-four percent of the registered foreigners resided in the capital region, with the largest proportion living in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province.

The Gyeonggi city of Siheung stood in second place, and Ansan’s Danwon District in the same province was third.

Twenty-point-six percent of the registered foreigners lived in the southeastern Gyeongsang region, followed by 12-point-eight percent in the central Chungcheong provinces and eight-point-nine percent in the southwestern Jeolla region.