24,000 foriegn workers for 2010

Plan for Receiving Foreign Workers in 2010
1. Current Status of Foreign Workers
Current status of foreigners
As of late Dec. 2009, 1.17 million foreigners are residing in Korea.
Out of 1.17 million, 690,000 foreigners are employed as non-professionals
(460,000), professionals(36,000) and undocumented(180,000).

Current Status of non-professional foreign workers
Non-professional foreign workforce is divided into 158,000 general foreign
workers (E-9 visa) and 303,000 ethnic Koreans with foreign nationality (H-2 visa).

By sector, foreign workers are employed in the manufacturing(around 89%)
and construction(around 5%) sector and ethnic Koreans with foreign
nationality are employed in the service(around 45%), construction(around
28%), and manufacturing(around 14%) sectors.1)
By company size, 66% of foreign workers and 87% of ethnic Koreans with foreign
nationality are employed in small size companies with less than 30 employees.

By country, foreign workers are received from Vietnam(27%), Thailand(14%),
the Philippines(13%), and Indonesia(13%), and ethnic Koreans with foreign
nationality are received from China(98%) and CIS countries(2%).

Labor quota for foreign workers for 2010 is 24,000. This number
has been decided taking into account business demand and domestic
employment condition.
The number 24,000 is to fill the number of workers who are
returning home so the total number of foreign workers in Korea
will be maintained at the current level.
The quota for manufacturing and agriculture livestock sectors
increased considering the labor shortage and difficulty in
finding national workers.





If economic growth rate reaches around 5% this year, around 200,000 jobs
are expected to be created.
- However, as the population of aged 15 and over is expected to increase
by 410,000 this year, employment rate is projected to decrease by 0.1%p
to 58.5% from 58.6% of 2009 and the number of people experiencing
difficulty finding a job* will reach 1,880,000.
People

Number of people who exit labor market(become economically inactive) is expected to reach
170,000 but only the number for those who exit the market due to the difficulty in finding
a job even though they are able to work and want to work(around 10%) was deducted.

3. Labor quota for foreign workers in 2010
Labor quota by sojourn status
For both foreign w orkers(E-9 visa) and ethnic Koreans with foreign
nationality(H-2), the number of foreign workers residing in Korea will be
maintained at the current level.
- For E-9 foreign workers, labor quota is set at 24,000 as 24,000 workers are expected
to leave due to the expiration of sojourn period and crack down on undocumented workers.
* Number of workers expected to leave: 14,000 due to the expiration of 3 year and 6 year
of sojourn period and 10,000 due to the crackdown on undocumented workers.
- 5 -
- For H-2 ethnic Koreans with foreign nationality, the quota is managed
based on the total number residing in Korea(reflecting those who entered,
whose status has changed due to departure or marriage etc.) and the number
of H-2 ethnic Koreans residing in Korea will be maintained at the current level.
* As the number of H-2 ethnic Koreans is expected to decrease by 20,000 due to departure and
application for Korean citizenship, up to 20,000 ethnic Koreans may be received this year.

For manufacturing sector, the quota for foreign workers(E-9) this year increased by
6,500 to 19,500 taken into account the employer's high demand and severe labor
shortage in this sector.
- For construction sector, the quota slightly decreased from last year to
1,600 to protect employment opportunity for national workers.
- For agriculture and livestock sector, the quota for foreign workers(E-9) this
year increased by 1,000 from last year to 2,000 taking into account the fact that
the quota was filled in only one week last year and the difficulty in finding
national workers.
Even though the total quota has been decreased from 2009, the
quota for E-9 foreign workers and the quota for manufacturing and
agriculture livestock sectors increased to reflect business demand
while protecting employment opportunity for national workers.


4. Timing of Decision on labor quota to be adjusted
< Current>
The time frame for receiving foreign workers is "from March to February of
next year" and the employment permit is issued starting from March.
However, in case of construction, agriculture livestock, and fishing sectors,
demand for foreign workers is concentrated from Feb. to April but workers
arrive in April to June under the current system making it difficult for
employers to hire foreign workers at an appropriate time.
< To be Adjusted >
Measures will be taken to advance the timing of decision on labor quota so that
workers can be received from Feb. to April when they are needed most.
5. Ceiling for Job seekers' roster by country
Ceiling for job seekers' roster will be set at two-three times higher than the
labor quota.
The number will be divided into sending countries differently taking into account
employer's preference, the rate of undocumented workers, and the management of
receiving process.
The ceiling for job seekers' roster for each sending country will be announced
in the fourth week of April and the Ministry of Labor will inform each
sending country.
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. Support for Foreign Workers in 2010
1. Employment sojourn support
Monitoring on workplaces
Monitoring will be focused on workplaces where foreign workers who are
living in Korea for less then three months are employed with the aim to
help foreign workers' early adaptation after their arrival.
* Priority will be on workplace with less than 10 employees in manufacturing
sector, workplaces in agriculture and livestock sectors, and workplaces that
hire foreign workers for the first time.
Addressing difficulties faced in the workplace
Interpreters will be available in the workplace to address difficulties that
might arise in the workplace such as violation of labor contract, conflicts
and communications.
* Interpreters will be placed in the workplace and the volunteer pool of more
than 1,000 interpreters will be managed systematically.
Migrant workers support center
Migrant workers support center is established in 8 areas including Seoul,
Ansan, Kimhae where foreign workers are concentrated to provide
interpretation service, Korean language education, and counseling service in an
effort to help foreign workers' adaptation.
Financial support is rendered to private sector to provide counseling and
interpretation services for workers(50 centers called 'Supporters') and caring
service for those who are in the process of changing workplace(37 centers).
Cultural events and regional services
Financial support is provided for cultural events of sending countries (2-3
countries a year) and medical and legal services are provided free of charge
circulating the regions (10 times).
Insurances for EPS workers
Labor related Acts, Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance, and
Health Insurance are applied equally to foreign workers as native workers.
Return Cost Insurance and Casualty Insurance are in place for foreign
workers' stable sojourn and return.
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Consultative Body for Protection of Foreign Workers' Rights
Consultative Body for Protection of Foreign Workers' Rights will be
established in latter half of this year to consult on matters such as
conflicts between employers and workers and employment support.
* The council will be composed of organizations of workers, employers,
and foreign workers recommended by the head of the employment
security center.
Enhancing awareness of employers and strengthening punishment
Basic working condition for foreign workers will be protected by
enhancing employer's awareness on the observance of the law and
strengthening punishment for violations.
- Inspection is to be conducted on workplaces concerning the areas of
overdue wage, physical violence, and accomodations (4,000 workplaces
in first and latter half of the year).
2. Return Support
Training on skills and business startup
Training on skills and business startup is provided for workers whose
sojourn period expires(69 beneficiaries in 2009 720 in 2010).
Job referral to the Korean businesses in home country
Job fair where employers and job seekers gather together is held and
online job match service is provided to help returnees' early settlement.
* Job fair will be held in Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia in
2010 as these countries will have large number of returnees.
** In 2009, job fair was held in Vietnam: 21 businesses participated, job
counseling was provided to 507 job seekers, 136 job seekers had an
interview, and 3 people were employed.
Network of returnees
Network will be established for returnees to maintain friendly relations,
provide employment service and share their experience in Korea with
new comers, and exchange information.
* Mongolia: opened a website for workers participating in the returnee networks
(Mongolian workers in Korea also have access to the website).
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. Cooperative Areas
1. Prevention of undocumented workers and workers' absent without leave
Rooting out undocumented workers is one of the priorities of the Korean
government in implementing the foreign workforce policy.
For the sending country with high rate of undocumented workers, number
of workers to be received will be limited by cutting the ceiling for job
seekers' roster.
The government of sending countries are asked to provide education and
guidance to workers to prevent absent without leave.
2. Prevention of irregularities in the sending process
In 2009, there have been some cases where brokers intervened in the sending
process and worker's wage was deducted as the illegal sending fee.
To reiterate, no other agency can intervene in the sending process than the
official sending agency and no other fee can be collected from workers
than the official sending cost under the EPS.
The Korean government has been responding firmly to the violations.
The government of sending countries are required to make efforts to
secure transparency of the sending process and the 'public agency only'
principle.
3. Return support program
Return support program such as training on skills, business startup, and job
referral services will be expanded as large number of returnees (whose
sojourn of 3+3 years expires) will be produced this year.
The government of sending countries are asked to implement 'voluntary
departure program' such as developing financial products for overseas
workers and providing consulting services on business startup for
returning workers.
4. Cooperation on entry process
Sending countries are asked to render cooperation on entry process of EPS
related personnel or facilities to the sending country as well as the entry
and sojourn support for Korean workers in each sending country.

MINISTRY OF LABOR
APRIL 14, 2010

The time frame for receiving foreign workers is "from March to February of
next year" and the employment permit is issued starting from March?2011 ba toh?

Measures will be taken to advance the timing of decision on labor quota so that
workers can be received from Feb. to April when they are needed most.