South Korea: More Chinese nationals overstayed visas in 2018

July 18 (UPI) -- The number of Chinese visitors and tourists to South Korea who stay past their visa expiration dates is rising.

Seoul's national statistical office said Thursday the number of Chinese who are given a 90-day visa but overstay in South Korea rose from 2017 to 2018, Newsis reported.

Mainland Chinese passport holders topped the list of foreign nationals who overstay visas across all visa categories.

According to South Korean government data, a total of 169,000 Chinese nationals overstayed their visas, followed by 80,000 Thais and 56,000 Vietnamese passport holders.

A total of 495,000 foreigners stayed past visa expiration in 2018, an increase of 42,000 people from 2017.

Nearly 40 percent of overstaying foreigners were on tourist visas, followed by short-term work permits and student visas. About 11 percent of foreigners who overstay are on special "overseas Korean" visas, given to foreign nationals who are recognized in South Korea as individuals of Korean descent.

The latest statistics come at a time when the number of undocumented migrants are rising in South Korea. About 90 percent of Thai citizens in Korea enter the country on a short-term tourist visa then work without documentation, according to Newsis.

South Korea has been receiving an increasing number of tourists and migrants from countries where Korean popular culture is widely consumed.

Korea's exports were targeted and South Korean pop artists were banned from holding concerts in China after South Korea agreed to deploy the THAAD missile defense system.

China also curbed its citizens from visiting South Korea in 2016, but the tides are shifting.

Yonhap reported Thursday South Korean duty-free operators have benefited from Chinese purchasing more luxury goods at airports.

Chinese tourism to South Korea began to recover in 2018.