Jeju International Airport is crowded with undocumented foreign nationals preparing to leave Korea under a special amnesty program, in this March 10, 2020, file photo. More than 8,000 undocumented foreign nationals living in Korea have left the country over the past two months under a special amnesty program, according to the Ministry of Justice, Monday. Newsis

More than 8,000 undocumented foreign nationals living in Korea have left the country over the past two months under the government's special amnesty program, according to the Ministry of Justice.

As of Tuesday, 8,873 foreign nationals residing here illegally have returned to their countries since Sept. 30, when the two-month campaign was launched in an effort to reduce the number of unauthorized residents, a ministry representative told The Korea Times.

“The justice ministry has been making a consistent effort to keep social order when it comes to immigration by cracking down on those staying here illegally and running many programs through which they would voluntarily leave,” the representative said.

Those who left Korea voluntarily under the program have been exempt from paying fines ― up to 30 million won ($21,300) ― and will be allowed to reenter after a certain period, which is three to six months.

The goal of the amnesty was to ease the burden on immigration officials, who are struggling with a steady increase in the number of foreign residents here ― and those overstaying their visas. Most of them came here legally for economic reasons and decide to stay on.

According to the latest data from the ministry, the number of foreign nationals living here in January stood at 2,448,000. Of these, the number of undocumented individuals is estimated to be 420,000, a significant increase from around 200,000 just a decade ago.

Amid growing calls to strengthen controls on foreign nationals residing here illegally, officials have been devising various strategies, including the implementation of amnesty programs.

Originally, the latest amnesty campaign was scheduled to run until Nov. 30. But considering that the end of the year is a busy time for air travel, the ministry said it had decided to extend the campaign for two more months, until the end of January 2025.