The number of foreign workers in South Korea fell slightly this year as the COVID-19 pandemic restricted arrival at and departure from the country, statistical office data showed Tuesday. The number of foreign nationals with jobs was 843,000 in May 2022, down 12,000, or 1.4 percent, from a year ago, according to Statistics Korea. After rising from 848,000 in 2020 to 855,000 in 2021, the number of foreign employees shrank this year due to restrictions on entry to and exit from the country, caused by the continued pandemic. The employment rate among foreign nationals gained 0.6 percentage points to 64.8 percent in the cited period as more foreign workers left South Korea than those entering the country. The number of foreigners residing here and aged 15 or higher was 1,302,000 as of May, down 30,000, or 2.2 percent, from the same month of last year.