Vietnamese labourers at Incheon airport, the Republic of Korea. (Photo:VNA)Seoul (VNA) – The number of Vietnamese workersentering the Republic of Korea (RoK) is expected to rise, reaching 183 at the end of this month, according to the Management Board of Vietnamese Laborers inRoK.
The number of Vietnamese guest workers has increased after the RoK lifted the restriction on the number of the weekly and daily entries in order toadapt to the "living with COVID-19" plan that the government is implementing.
Under the plan, foreign workers from all sending countries will be allowed toenter the RoK if they are confirmed to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and holdRT-PCR test results negative to COVID-19.
According to Ta Thi Thanh Thuy, head of the Management Board of VietnameseLabourers in the RoK, workers entering the RoK only have to be quarantined for 10days instead of 14 days. Unvaccinated workers will be arranged for COVID-19vaccination soon after completing isolation.
New regulations help reduce costs and create favourableconditions for both employees and employers in the context of Korean small andmedium enterprises facing labour shortage due to restriction measures imposed bythe government to combat the spread of coronavirus, Thuy told the Vietnam News Agency.
Hyun Hey Yong, director of the JI Korea Auto Parts Company, said her company started hiring Vietnameseworkers in 2015. Some workers have returned home and recruited again becausethey worked very well, she said, adding that it currently employs five Vietnamese workers.
A representative of Haesung Metal Co. Ltd said it is waitingto receive more guest workers. Due to the pandemic, foreign workers are restricted fromentering RoK, making it difficult for small businesses, he said.
The representative appreciated Vietnamese labourers for their hard-working and compliance with pandemic prevention and control regulations.
Restrictions on entry as well as those relating to quarantine rules have causedthe number of foreign workers entering the RoK to drop sharply from an average of50,000 people per year before the pandemic to less than 7,000 people last year.
The RoK is one of the key labour markets of Vietnam. To offer better support for Vietnamese labourers, theMinistry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs decided to establish an officeunder the RoK’s Employment Permit System (EPS) programme in 2013.
Pham Minh Duc, head of the office, said in collaboration with Vietnam’s labourmanagement board in the RoK, it has met with and provided direct consultationsfor thousands of labourers on weekends. The office has also offered between 100and 150 consultations over the phone per week.
According to Duc, these activities have made animportant contribution to supporting Vietnamese workers, thus reducing the rateof illegal labourers in the RoK from 40 percent in 2013 to less than 26 percentin 2020.
He suggested speeding up procedures to send qualified workers to the RoK soon.
Priorityshould be given to the vaccination of workers so that Vietnamese workers can enjoypreferential treatment when entering the country, Duc said, adding that the Koreanlanguage exams should be quickly completed at the same time to facilitate labourers’entry in the future./.
