South Korea to recruit 14,000 Nepali workers under EPS next year

KATHMANDU: South Korea is recruiting Nepali workers in five sectors from next year under the Employment Permit System (EPS).

According to Guru Dutta Joshi, director of the EPS Section at the Department of Foreign Employment, South Korea will recruit 14,000 Nepali workers next year. “They have placed demands for 14,000 workers in three new sectors, including the existing agriculture and manufacturing sectors,” Joshi added.

Last year, South Korea recruited 11,000 workers from Nepal under EPS.

Joshi said South Korea will recruit Nepali workers in the restaurant, hotel, hospital, forestry, and other sectors.

South Korea, which signed a labor agreement with Nepal in 2008, has been recruiting Nepali workers in agriculture and manufacturing sectors. It has expressed an intent to recruit Nepali workers in the construction sector as well.

Last year, South Korea sought applications from Nepali workers under EPS in the shipbuilding sector. The result of the skills test of workers was announced on Monday. Out of over 32,000 applicants who participated in the shipbuilding skills test, 4,098 passed the test. South Korea was looking to hire 5,000 Nepali workers for the shipbuilding sector.

The EPS Section is preparing to invite applications for a language test for the manufacturing sector next week, according to Joshi.

South Korea is looking to recruit 165,000 foreign workers from 16 countries under EPS in 2024. It intends to recruit 95,000 in the manufacturing sector, 16,000 in the agriculture sector, 5,000 in the building sector, 6,000 in the construction sector, 13,000 in the service sector, and 20,000 in other sectors. However, it hasn’t specified how many Nepali workers it will recruit in each sector, Joshi said.

The South Korean government recently amended the law that prohibited foreigners from working in different sub-sectors of the service and manufacturing sectors.

There are around 35,000 Nepali workers in South Korea at present. So far, 70,000 Nepali youths have reached South Korea under EPS.