One third of foreign expatriates residing in Busan were found to be low-skilled laborers with insufficient capacity to spend, a report by the Bank of Korea’s Busan office showed Thursday.

A spokesperson from the BOK Busan voiced the opinion that the influx of foreign residents should be selective to encourage contributions to local economic growth.

According to report by the central bank office, in 2015, Busan -- as Korea’s second-largest city -- had 3.5 percent of the total foreign population in the nation but 31 percent of them were low-skilled workers mainly working in accommodation and restaurant businesses and giving back little to the local economy.

The low-skilled foreign workers participated mainly in the production and not in consumption, casting a more negative than positive effect on the regional economy. The regional office also suggested the need to inspect the foreign workers’ income, spending, savings and remittance. 

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)