Foreigners staying in South Korea illegally will be temporarily exempted from an entry ban if they voluntarily leave the country, the Ministry of Justice said Sunday.

The ministry will temporarily waive the ban imposed on foreigners with illegal residence status if they voluntarily leave the country between April 1 and Sept. 30, officials said.

The illegal aliens willing to leave the country must have viable passports and airline tickets, and report to the immigration office on the day of their departure, they said.

The ministry designated this year to actively clamp down on illegal foreign workers who are staying in the country without proper working visas as the number of illegal immigrants in South Korea remained high in recent years despite efforts by the authorities to bring the problem under control.

"Overstaying foreigners who do not leave the country voluntarily will be banned from re-entering (South Korea) for five years," said a ministry official on the condition of anonymity.

As of the end of December, 1,899,000 foreigners were staying in South Korea. Of them, 214,000 foreigners, or 11.2 percent of the total, were believed to be staying here illegally, the ministry said in a recent report. (Yonhap)