Chinese Nationals Living a Month in Jeju Are Spreading Nationwide

As the door of a ferry arriving in Mokpo from Jeju opens and travelers rush out, people appearing to be officials hastily run over and stop a few of the departing passengers.

This is the moment when five Vietnamese nationals who entered Jeju Island without a visa and attempted to sneak onto the mainland by hiding on a ferry were arrested by the Korea Coast Guard.

This time, when the back of a cargo truck is opened, three Chinese nationals emerge from among stacked courier boxes.

["Get down! Get down one by one! One by one!"]

These individuals also entered Jeju using the visa-free entry system and were caught trying to secretly cross over to the mainland.

[Jeju Coast Guard: "(They hide) in remote corners inside (fishing boats) or blend in pretending to be crew members."]

Foreigners staying illegally by abusing Jeju Island's visa-free entry system have increased every year, already exceeding 10,000 in 2023, and approaching 12,000 by August of this year.

By nationality, Chinese nationals accounted for the majority, followed by those from Southeast Asian countries.

[Ko Geun-pyo / Head of Foreign Affairs Section, Jeju Coast Guard: "They used various methods, such as hiding in ice boxes, secret spaces covered with wooden boards, and piles of agricultural product packing boxes."]

More than 10,000 illegal residents somehow manage to escape Jeju and hide in various parts of the country, but the Coast Guard has caught fewer than 100 over the past five years.

Even in the year they caught the most, the apprehension rate did not exceed 0.4%.

[Kim Sun-gyo / National Assembly Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee Member (People Power Party): "There is great concern among our citizens due to illegal foreign residents hiding across the country. Measures to crack down and manage them in advance..."]

The Coast Guard told SBS reporting teams, "While the enforcement personnel level of around 130 is not sufficient, we will strive to increase manpower along with efficient operations."

(Reported by Kwon Mingyu | Producer: Yoon Sung-shik | Camerapersons: Kim Hak-mo, Lee Seung-hwan | Video Editing: Kim Jun-hee | Design: Park Taeyoung | Data provided by the office of Representative Kim Sun-gyo | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.