▲ This file image, provided by Yonhap News TV, shows the justice ministry's headquarters in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

S Korea-asylum seekers

Russians lead asylum applications in S. Korea for 3rd year in 2025

SEOUL, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- Russians made up the largest share of asylum seekers in South Korea for the third consecutive year in 2025 amid the war in Ukraine, justice ministry data showed Wednesday.

According to the annual data of asylum seekers, 2,026 Russians applied for refugee status in the country last year, accounting for 13.8 percent of the total 14,626 applicants, followed by 1,462 Indians and 1,216 Kazakhs

The 2025 tally marked a sharp drop from 4,546 Russian applicants the previous year, but Russians have held the largest share of asylum seekers by nationality since 2023.

In 2023, Russia recorded 5,750 applicants -- a fivefold increase from a year earlier -- in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

A ministry official said the conflict is believed to have had an influence on the number of Russian applications, noting the country's conscription efforts due to the war.

But no Russians were granted refugee status last year, the official said. South Korea granted the status to 135 people, including 75 Burmese in 2025 alone.

South Korea signed the U.N. Refugee Convention and Protocol in 1992 and began registering asylum seekers in 1994.

A total of 1,679 people have been granted refugee status since 1994, leaving the recognition rate at 2.7 percent, according to the ministry.

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