China is seducing international commercial pilots with swelling paychecks to fill-up the shortage of local pilots in the country.

According to aircraft manufacturer Boeing, China's commercial planes are expected to triple to more than 7,200 fleets in the next two decades. To cope with the increase, the country is in dire need of 100,000 professional pilots, which is about 50 percent of the pilots across Asia-Pacific and about 25 percent in the world.

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Korean captains are allegedly the most lured by the offer since they receive below the global average in their country and have not seen any pay raise for nearly a decade, the Korea Times reported.

In fact, according to a data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, China has become the top destination of Korean pilots, toppling the United States.

There were reportedly more than 500 foreign pilots in China in 2015.

According to these international captains, factors that make China attractive include fat paychecks, light workload and fast career promotions. For instance, an A320 pilot in China receives an after-tax pay of $20,000 per month, which is bigger that Korean Air's annual salary of $16,000 excluding welfare benefits.

In January, Korean pilots went on strike after Korean Air refused to agree to their demand for a 37 percent raise, instead they were only offered 1.9 percent over 2015 levels.

"A 37% increase would be equivalent to $41,000 - which is around the average salary of a normal employee in Korea and the request is unacceptable," Nathan Cho, Korean Air Corporate Communications manager, told CNN.

About 140 pilots left Korean Air in 2015, and 40 of them opted to work for a Chinese company, Seo Sang-won from the Korean Pilot Union said.

The Korean government has taken steps to curb this trend as it could lead to talent drain.

"A lack of pilots could result in a rise in flight hours and this will eventually compromise the safety of passengers," Park Soo-hyn, an opposition lawyer, told Yonhap news agency. "It is a major factor that could hurt not just the competitiveness of commercial airlines but also that of the whole nation."

Tagschina, Korean pilots, aviation industry, China Airlines, Civil Aviation Administration of China