Seoul: The number of Vietnamese nationals holding South Korea's E-7-1 professional visa has nearly doubled over the past four years, data showed Sunday. As of August, 3,572 Vietnamese nationals held the visa, marking an increase of 1.84 times from 1,938 in 2022, according to the data submitted to Rep. Kim Joon-hwan of the Democratic Party by the justice ministry.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the E-7-1 visa is granted to foreign nationals working in government-designated professional fields such as information technology and robotics. The data also highlighted a similar trend among Indian nationals, whose numbers grew 1.46 times to 1,014 during the same period.

In contrast, the number of Chinese nationals holding the E-7-1 visa declined to 1,566 from 2,213 in 2022. Similarly, American E-7-1 holders decreased to 1,355 from 1,471. This shift indicates varying trends in the professional migration patterns to South Korea by different nationalities.

Meanwhile, Chinese nationals continue to dominate a separate visa category, the semi-professional E-7-2, which covers areas such as caregiving. They accounted for 80.6 percent of all 10,759 E-7-2 holders, showcasing a significant presence in this semi-professional segment.

The lawmaker highlighted the influx of such tech talent as "a positive sign," but emphasized that the country needs to improve working and living conditions for these workers to generate "bigger synergy."