South Korea has planned to hire about 46,000 foreigners including Nepalis in the current year. The Human Resource Department of South Korea has allocated the jobs to people of 15 countries associated with Employment Permit System (EPS). 

New hiring from South Korea will start from February, said coordinator at EPS Nepal Gyannath Dhakal. “About 7,500 youths who passed the Test of Proficiency in Korea (TOPIK) two years back are waiting for their turn to get hired,” he said. “They will now get the opportunity.” However, South Korea has not yet set a quota. 

About 15,500 Nepalis had passed TOPIK held in June 2011, but only half the number was hired last year. “We have reregistered the remaining EPS job aspirants to provide a chance for them to be hired,” he said. 

Recently, the Department of Foreign Employment asked job aspirants who want to go to South Korea to submit machine readable passports (MRP) because the destination has extended the job tenure of EPS workers from three years to four years and 10 months. 

EPS Nepal has asked the aspirants to submit MRPs because the validity of handwritten passports will expire on November 25, 2014, according to the International Civil Aviation Organisation. “We took the initiative to reduce the difficulties that workers could face at the workplace in a foreign land,” said Dhakal. 

South Korea is the most lucrative job destination for Nepalis. An EPS job holder earns around $1,000 (Rs 87,000) per month while working in the manufacturing, agriculture or fishery sectors. The earning is five times more than in Gulf countries — Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and others — and Malaysia. 

The handsome salary for unskilled workers is the major attraction in South Korea. Therefore, the EPS process has been attracting thousands of Nepalis since it began in 2008. 

About 32,000 Nepalis had appeared for the first Korean language test held in August 2008, followed by 41,000 in 2010, and 51,000 in 2011. 

Around 15,000 Nepalis are believed to be working in South Korea and 13,000 of them are EPS workers.

Published on: 10 January 2012 | The Himalayan Times