[Anchor]

There is a visa-free entry system that allows foreigners to stay in Jeju for up to 30 days without a visa. However, an increasing number of people are exploiting this system to enter Jeju and then move to other regions to stay illegally. It has been confirmed that the rate at which they are caught is less than 0.4%.

Reporter Kwon Min-kyu has more.

[Reporter]

As the doors of a ferry that arrived in Mokpo from Jeju open and passengers rush out, people presumed to be officials sprint over and detain a few individuals leaving the vessel.

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

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

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

This is also a case where individuals used the visa-free entry system to enter Jeju and were caught trying to sneak over to the mainland.

[Korea Coast Guard in Jeju: (They may hide) in deep, remote places inside (fishing boats) or blend in as crew members.]

Foreigners staying illegally by exploiting Jeju's visa-free entry system have increased every year, already surpassing 10,000 in 2023, and nearing 12,000 as of August this year.

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

[Ko Geun-pyo, Chief of the Foreign Affairs Section at the Jeju Coast Guard: They used various methods, such as hiding inside ice boxes, secret spaces covered with wooden boards, and piles of agricultural packaging boxes.]

Even though more than 10,000 illegal residents manage to leave Jeju and hide across the country, the Coast Guard has caught fewer than 100 over the past five years.

Even in the year with the highest number of arrests, the apprehension rate did not exceed 0.4%.

[Kim Sun-kyo, Member of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee (People Power Party): Citizens of our country are deeply concerned because of undocumented foreign workers hiding across the nation. Measures should be taken to crack down and manage this in advance...]

The Coast Guard told SBS reporting staff, "While our crackdown workforce of around 130 is not sufficient, we will strive to increase personnel alongside efficient operations."

(Video reporting: Kim Hak-mo, Lee Seung-hwan | Video editing: Kim Jun-hee, Design: Park Tae-young, Data provided by the office of Representative Kim Sun-kyo)