A Korean legislator says that there are 10,000 Korean nationals who are living illegally in Canada.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

According to the office of Rep. Lee Seong-kweun, the number of Koreans illegally staying in other countries increased by 6,000 this year, from 259,000 in 2004 to 265,000.

The largest number of them, or 180,000, is found in the United States. Those in Japan numbered around 40,000, the second largest group after the United States, according to Korean media.

Meanwhile, another report said that the number of Koreans emigrating to the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand has dropped greatly in the past decade.

The report by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Seoul said reasons for the declining emigration include stricter standards set by host countries to encourage greater numbers of immigrants who are specialists and technicians.

But an official of the United States Embassy in Korea said, “I believe that the fall in the number of Korean emigrations since 1995 is testimony to the increasing strength of the Korean economy and the tremendous growth in employment for qualified Koreans seeking jobs at home.“

“Thanks to the tremendous economic progress Korea has made, the wage differential between the U.S. and Korea is lower than it once was,” the official said.

The spokesman also made it clear what sort of immigrants they favor and what opportunities may lie ahead for those who apply for entry.

Between the period of 1995 and 2004, the number of emigrants to the United States dropped 44.2 percent from 8,535 to 4,756, emigrants to New Zealand dropped 96 percent from 3,612 to 127 and emigrants to Canada reduced by 48.6 percent from 9,295 in 2000 to 4,522 in 2004.