[Graphic News] 1 in 10 foreigners staying in S. Korea without permission

According to data released by the Ministry of Justice, 211,320, or 10.5 percent of foreign residents living here as of the end of January, were staying without a valid visa.

The total shot up to 223,464 in 2007 and dropped to 177,955 in 2009. Since 2014, the number has hovered around 200,000.

The percentage of those living in Korea without legal permission, meanwhile, has been declining, from 12.3 percent in 2012 to 11.3 percent in 2015 and 10.2 percent in 2016, in step with the overall rise in the number of foreigners living here.