The Ministry of Justice will establish a formal department dedicated to repatriating foreigners denied entry into Korea and managing departure waiting rooms. As inbound and outbound travel has grown rapidly since COVID-19, the ministry plans to professionalize the management of denied-entry foreigners, work previously handled by a temporary organization, and significantly expand its immigration screening workforce.
According to the legal community on the 26th, the Ministry of Justice will establish a "Repatriation Enforcement Division" at the Incheon Airport Immigration and Foreigner Office next month. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety earlier gave advance notice of legislation containing these details, the "Partial Amendment to the Organizational Structure of the Ministry of Justice and Its Affiliated Agencies," on the 15th of this month.
The Repatriation Enforcement Division will handle the operation and management of the departure waiting room at Incheon Airport, where foreigners denied entry stay until they are repatriated to their country of departure or elsewhere. Foreigners who fail to meet entry requirements or who cannot sufficiently explain their purpose of entry wait in the departure waiting room until repatriation once their entry is denied.
Departure waiting rooms were previously operated by private entities such as airlines, but the Immigration Act was amended in August 2022 so that the state manages them directly. Following the legal amendment, related duties have been handled by the Departure Waiting Room Operation Team, a temporary organization. Through this organizational restructuring, the Ministry of Justice plans to convert the temporary organization into a formal department and enhance the expertise and accountability of the work.
A total of 19 personnel, including one deputy director, will be assigned to the Repatriation Enforcement Division. "Foreigners who are not permitted entry are managed in the departure waiting room within the airport until they are repatriated to their country of departure," a Ministry of Justice official said. "We established the Repatriation Enforcement Division to resolve the personnel shortage problem and secure expertise and accountability in the work."
The Ministry of Justice will significantly reinforce not only repatriation duties but also entry and exit screening personnel. It will add 84 personnel to handle immigration screening for airline passengers and 28 personnel to manage automated immigration gates. It will also increase by 10 the personnel responsible for entry reviews, who re-examine the circumstances of foreigners who have objected to entry denial decisions. The Ministry of Justice plans to conduct career-based competitive recruitment examinations in line with the scale of the increase.
The establishment of the dedicated department and the workforce expansion are measures taken in response to the rapid increase in border crossings in Korea since COVID-19. Last year, the number of people crossing Korea's borders reached 98,327,286, up 7.8% from 91,222,927 in 2024.
The number of border crossings in Korea fell to 4,559,693 in 2021 due to the impact of COVID-19, but surged to 19,414,228 in 2022 and 68,121,657 in 2023. This year, the figure reached 52.13 million in the first half alone, raising the likelihood that annual border crossings will exceed 100 million.
The increase in foreign arrivals has been even steeper. Foreign arrivals rose from 1,044,545 in 2021 to 3,390,009 in 2022 and 11,500,883 in 2023. Last year, the figure was 19,584,714, up 15.4% from 16,968,203 in 2024, and this year it reached 11,048,325 in the first half alone.
Refugee applications, which exceed 10,000 annually, are also cited as a factor increasing the burden of entry screening and review work. Last year, there were 14,626 refugee applications, marking the fourth consecutive year exceeding 10,000 since 2022. Foreigners who apply for refugee status at the airport undergo screening on whether their case will be referred to refugee review procedures; if a referral decision is made, they can enter the country and undergo refugee review. Conversely, if a non-referral decision is made, entry is denied and they undergo repatriation procedures.
