Who Lives in Seoul (2026): A District-by-District Map Drawn from Registered Foreigner Statistics

So how many foreigners actually live in Seoul?

The Seoul Metropolitan Government reported 269,893 registered foreigners in November 2025. With Seoul’s population hovering around 9.3 million, that’s about 2.9%. By visa category, students lead with 64,755, followed by permanent residents at 53,753. The first face of a foreigner in Seoul, statistically speaking, is a student; the second is a permanent resident.

Now here’s where it gets confusing. One news article will say Seoul has 270,000 foreigners. Another will say 450,000. Both are correct — because they’re counting different things.

📊 Four statistical terms that trip everyone up — and what they actually measure

Which districts have the most?

By the Ministry of Justice’s registered-foreigner count, Guro-gu (23,246) and Yeongdeungpo-gu (23,006) dominate the top two spots. Together they account for over 46,000 people — more than 18% of Seoul’s total. At the other end, Dobong-gu claims just 2,546, roughly one-ninth of Guro’s figure.

🗺️ Registered foreigners across Seoul's 25 districts (Ministry of Justice, Dec 2023)

What does the map look like when Seoul is split into five regions?

In November 2025, the Seoul Metropolitan Government released registered-foreigner data broken into five regional clusters. The southwest zone alone holds 38% of all foreigners in Seoul.

📍 Registered foreigners by Seoul region (Seoul City, Nov 2025)

Same city, yet the southwest zone and the southeast zone differ by nearly a factor of five. And the gap isn’t just about headcount — the nationality makeup itself is fundamentally different. (The simple sum of regional figures is 269,902 — a discrepancy of 9 from the published total of 269,893, likely due to unclassified cases.)

Does the #1 nationality vary by district?

Yes — but less than you might expect. China is number one in 22 of the 25 districts. Only three break the pattern.

🏳️ Top 3 nationalities by Seoul district (end of Dec 2025, registered foreigners + domestic residence reports)

There are a few ways to read this map.

For reference, here’s the national picture. As of end-December 2025, among 2,783,247 foreign residents nationwide: China (including Korean-Chinese): 980,670 (35.2%), Vietnam: 337,183 (12.1%), United States: 180,230 (6.5%), Thailand: 169,848 (6.1%), Uzbekistan: 102,804 (3.7%). Seoul skews far more heavily Chinese than the national average, while nationalities tied to provincial manufacturing and agriculture — Thai, Cambodian — barely register in the capital.

Where does each nationality actually cluster?

Statistics come at the district level, but people cluster at the dong (neighborhood) level. Most of Seoul’s foreign enclaves trace back to a single catalyst from the 1970s through 1990s — a wholesale market, an embassy, a school, a military base.

Daerim-dong — Seoul’s largest Korean-Chinese commercial district

Step out of Daerim Station Exit 12 and the signage switches to simplified Chinese. The roughly 500-meter stretch from the station to Daerim Jungang Market forms this neighborhood’s spine. Korean-Chinese are ethnic Koreans with Chinese citizenship, but their food belongs to neither Korean nor Chinese cuisine — it’s a third thing: dishes from Korea’s northern provinces (Hamgyeong, Pyeongan) layered with ingredients and techniques from China’s three northeastern provinces, then seasoned with the Sichuan mala craze that swept through from the 1990s onward.

📍 Open in Naver Map

→ More: Daerim Yanbian Food Street — a decoder’s guide to Korean-Chinese cuisine with 12 restaurants

Gwanghui-dong — why the street signs are in Cyrillic

Across from the DDP, at the Gwanghui-dong intersection, a colorful Silk Road signpost stands at the crossroads. This strip packs in roughly 150 businesses — restaurants, groceries, money changers — according to a 2020 Seoul city survey. It started with the 1990 normalization of Korea-Russia relations. Russian traders needed offices, places to sleep, and places to eat — all within walking distance of the Dongdaemun wholesale market. Gwanghui-dong fit the brief exactly.

📍 Open in Naver Map

→ More: Dongdaemun Gwanghui-dong Central Asia Street — 10 Russian, Uzbek, and Mongolian restaurants

Eastern Ichon-dong — six decades of Little Tokyo

Eastern Ichon-dong in Yongsan-gu is home to more Japanese residents than anywhere else in Seoul. The community took root after the 1965 normalization of Korea-Japan relations, when embassy staff and trading-company expatriate families settled in. By the 1980s it had earned the nickname Little Tokyo. Unlike Daerim and Gwanghui — which grew out of commerce — Ichon was a residential community from day one.

📍 Open in Naver Map

→ More: Eastern Ichon-dong Little Tokyo — 9 old-school restaurants worth the trip

Seorae Village — the school that built a neighborhood

Why is Seorae Village in Seocho-gu’s Banpo-dong a French enclave? The answer is simple: the school came first. The French School of Seoul opened in Hannam-dong in 1974, then moved to Seorae in 1985. The parent community followed. Seocho-gu ranks 21st out of 25 districts for total foreigners, but when it comes to French nationals, the density is the highest in Seoul.

📍 Open in Naver Map

→ More: Seorae Village guide — how a French village took shape inside Seoul

Why those neighborhoods, of all places?

Seoul’s foreign enclaves tend to trace back to one of four catalysts.

• Proximity to a wholesale market — Gwanghui-dong (Dongdaemun garment wholesale), Daerim-dong (behind the old Guro Industrial Complex), Changsin-dong (garment manufacturing)
• A school — Seorae Village (French School of Seoul), Mapo Sangam-dong (Seoul Japanese School, founded in Hannam-dong in 1972, relocated in 2010), Yeonhui-dong (Hanseong Chinese Middle & High School, moved from Myeongdong in 1969)
• A religious institution — Itaewon (Seoul Central Mosque, 1976), Hyehwa-dong (Tagalog Mass at Hyehwa-dong Catholic Church)
• A university — Gwanak (Seoul National University), Dongdaemun (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies·Kyung Hee University), Gwangjin (Konkuk University), Seodaemun (Yonsei·Ewha), Seongbuk (Korea University)

How is this map changing?

Two trends stand out.

First, nationwide, Vietnam is rapidly gaining on China. Chinese nationals still dominate at 35.2% of all foreign residents, but outside the capital region, Vietnam already ranks first in more metropolitan cities and provinces. Seoul remains overwhelmingly Chinese for now — but Vietnam has already claimed the #2 spot in more than half of its districts.

Second, foreigners are actually decreasing in central Seoul. According to the Ministry of the Interior (as of November 1, 2024), five Seoul districts saw their foreign-resident population shrink: Yongsan, Mapo, Jung-gu, Jongno, and Seongdong. The likely driver is redevelopment and rising rents pushing older enclaves outward. The more established the community — Gwanghui-dong, Changsin-dong — the sooner it feels that pressure.