Korea a world of opportunity

This is especially so for those who used to work in  this market and returned home in time when their contracts expired.

Deputy head of Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs’ (MoLISA) Overseas Labour Management Department Le Van  Thanh said Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labour agreed to receive 5,400 Vietnamese workers who used to work in this market and returned home when their contracts expired to continue working in Korea in 2013.

According to MoLISA’s Overseas Labour Centre director Phan Van Minh, Vietnamese labourers finishing contracts and returning home have the right to register for Korean language tests on computer on a quarterly basis as required by Korean side.
The Korean language test will be held once every quarter.

Besides, from January 1, 2013 Korea also applied a fresh minimum salary scheme, with top average salary of Vietnamese workers reaching $1,300-$1,700 per month, making this market increasingly attractive to export labourers.

The matter is how to re-open the door, which is now shut to fresh workers.

It is reported that more than 10,000 Vietnamese labourers bound to work in Korea who had past Korean language exams have their files suspended after Korean government decided not to extend its Employment Permit System (EPS) to Vietnam after the latest agreement expired last August.

That was because of high rates of Vietnamese export workers illegally staying in Korea after their contracts got expired.

“Korea would continue receiving fresh Vietnamese workers if there were effective measures to ensure low rates of ‘runaway workers’,” said Minh.

Towards this goal, Minh suggested application of new stringent requirements to  labourers bound to work in Korea such as they ought to deposit a certain amount of money before leaving for Korea to ensure they will come back in time or the five-month salary allowance Korean employers pay when export workers finish contracts be given to workers in Vietnam when they return home but not in Korea. If they abscond, this amount will go to public budget.

Some 7,000 Vietnamese labourers went to work in Korea in 2012 under Employment Permit System with Korean government despite Korea stopped receiving new Vietnamese workers in later months of the year against over 12,000 in 2011, according to MoLISA statistics.

The Overseas Labour Management Department envisages bringing about 85,000 Vietnamese labourers to work abroad in 2013 and consolidating relations with key markets such Taiwan and Japan remains its priority since outset of 2013.