No more Nepalis will be able to join South Korean jobs this year. The job quota allocated to 15 source countries, including Nepal, has been finalised four months before the year ends.

Employment Permit System (EPS), which hires workers for middle scale South Korean industries, finalised the number of workers to be hired in the first week of September. EPS has allocated 57,000 workers for the current year. South Korea hired about 5,000 Nepalis this year. However, the Department of Foreign Employment of Nepal, and Human Resource Department (HRD) of South Korea had planned to hire about 15,000 workers earlier. Therefore, the EPS had passed 15,000 Nepalis in the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK).

South Korea will not hire more EPS workers this year, said chief of the EPS section of the department Mahesh Acharya. “But the hiring process will continue next year,” he said, adding that there will not be any problem for TOPIK passed workers. They could be hired next year, he added.

The quota of EPS workers for 2013 will be announced on December 29, 2012 as per tradition. HRD South Korea will start hiring workers from source countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, India, China, Indonesia, Philippines and others from January 2013.

A worker who has passed the Korean language test is allowed to work for two years. According to the EPS system, a roster is created from among the job aspirants who have passed the TOPIK, and selection is done from the roster. The last batch of 63 EPS workers will leave for South Korea on September 15. According to EPS Nepal, about 5,483 Nepalis have got labour contracts and about 5,250 Nepalis have got Certificate for Conformation of Visa Issuance till date. South Korea has hired about 4,343 Nepalis in the manufacturing sector, and the remaining in agriculture and fisheries.

South Korea is the most lucrative destination for Nepali migrant workers. Nepalis working through the EPS system have been earning around $ 1,000 (Rs 89,000) a month. The salary is five times more than in Gulf countries (Rs 18,000) and four times more than in Malaysia (Rs 22,000).

Therefore, the youth are attracted more towards EPS jobs than other foreign jobs available to unskilled Nepalis. Currently, about 15,000 Nepalis are working in South Korea and about 12,000 under EPS.

Published on: 6 September 2012 | The Himalayan Times