VietNamNet Bridge – Of 60,000 Vietnamese workers in the Republic of Korea (RoK), 8,780 are considered as illegal residents. Korean authorities said that if the situation gets more serious, this country will stop receiving Vietnamese workers.
According to the Department for Management of Overseas Labor, Vietnam has exported its manpower under Korea’s EPS program for six years, with nearly 63,000 people. Vietnamese workers account for 25 percent of the total number of foreign workers from 15 countries in Korea.

The two biggest problems with Vietnamese workers in South Korea include: they change their jobs very often, and illegally stay in the host country after their labor contracts end.

The number of Vietnamese workers who illegally reside in RoK is on the rise. According to the Korean Ministry of Employment and Job, of over 60,000 Vietnamese workers, 8,780 are residing illegally in this country, account for 14.8 percent. This is the highest number among countries that export their manpower to RoK.

The rate of Vietnamese workers who asked for changing jobs illegitimately is also high, around 32 percent. More seriously, the number of Vietnamese workers who ran away immediately after entering Korea is rising.

The latest case happened recently when 22 Vietnamese workers ran away right after they fulfilled the entrance formalities at the airport. Most of these workers come from the central province of Ha Tinh. Because of this case, South Korea canceled the Korean language test on August 7. The cancellation of Korean language test means that this country does not accept new guest workers from Vietnam.

The Korean Ministry of Employment and Job is considering limiting Korean language tests or cutting down the quotas for Vietnamese workers. If the situation becomes more serious, this country will stop receiving Vietnamese workers.

In April 2011, Vietnam sent a working group to Korea. Returning to Vietnam, these experts designed a project to prevent Vietnamese workers from illegally residing in Korea. A workshop was held on this matter.

Deputy Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, Nguyen Thanh Hoa has asked Ha Tinh province to cancel recruiting workers from the three districts of Nghi Xuan, Ky Anh and Cam Xuyen, for the manpower exporting project to Korea because many workers from these districts now illegally reside in Korea.

Earlier, Taiwan stopped receiving Vietnamese workers in early 2005. In mid-2006, the UK recruited some Vietnamese workers for the hospitality industry but it quickly stopped this program.

PV