Government moves to double cap on foreign workers

The Korean government on Thursday announced plans to increase the cap on foreign workers to around double the current limit in certain industries, addressing the chronic labor shortages faced in sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture.

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks on deregulatory measures at the fourth regulatory innovation strategy meeting held at G Valley Industrial Museum in Guro District, western Seoul, Thursday.

The Korean government on Thursday announced plans to increase the cap on foreign workers to around double the current limit in certain industries, addressing the chronic labor shortages faced in sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor also said the number of foreign workers will be increased from the current 110,000 to over 120,000 next year, the highest ever.

One manager of a waste sorting company hires foreign workers to separate waste because of difficulty finding Koreans willing to do manual labor. However, because he has hit the cap on the number of foreign workers he could hire, he is constantly suffering from labor shortages.

The labor reforms could change that.

The Labor Ministry announced at the fourth innovation strategy meeting a plan to increase the number of foreign workers at the workplace through reforming the current Employment Permit System. This aims to eliminate job vacancies at industrial sites and to reform industrial safety regulations.

The number of foreign workers workplaces in manufacturing may hire will be raised from the current range of nine to 40 workers to 18 to 89.

In the agricultural and livestock industry, it will be increased from a range of four to 25 to eight to 50, and in the service industry from two to 30 to four to 75.

The Employment Permit System currently allows for small- and medium-sized companies that have failed to find local hires to hire non-professional foreign workers through E-9 visas. The Korean government issues E-9 visas to foreigners who are from countries that have signed memoranda of understanding, including Vietnam and the Philippines, to allow the employment of workers in non-professional jobs in sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and construction.

The government also said it will expand the quota for E-7-4 skilled worker visas 17.5-fold from 2,000 issued last year to 35,000 this year.

Industries that had previously been banned from hiring foreign workers will be allowed to do so. This includes courier services and airport loading jobs. Housekeepers at hotels and resorts and kitchen assistants in restaurants are other jobs the government is considering allowing foreigners to take.

The ministry plans to simplify the procedure for foreigners to work in Korea, such as alleviating excessive paperwork.

Currently, after the employment permit is issued by the Labor Ministry, it must be submitted to the immigration office, which falls under the Ministry of Justice.

The Labor Ministry also decided to reduce the burden of submitting some 150,000 documents a year by linking databases with the Ministry of Justice.

"We plan to conduct a field survey and a comprehensive analysis of the impact on jobs this will have for Koreans," said a Labor Ministry official.

Industrial safety regulations, which have lagged behind the rapid pace of technological and industrial development, will also be improved.

Some 680 safety and health rules will be overhauled to enable safety measures to be streamlined and tailored to befit the nature of relevant workplaces, and overlapping or similar repetitive administrative procedures between agencies will be eliminated.

Unreasonable regulations, such as standards for installing emergency exits in semiconductor factories, which have been criticized by the industry, will be abolished. Disaster prevention support will also be encouraged through one-stop customized services, including technical and financial support for small- and medium-sized businesses.

The measures to allow more foreign workers to be employed in Korean industries comes amid laborer shortages due to the declining birth rate, an aging population and changes in the industrial structure.

President Yoon Suk Yeol called for a swift removal of regulatory barriers to improve public economic livelihoods and enable freer investments.

"Regulations are initially made with good intentions, but there are cases where they distort markets or cause monopolies and undermine fair competition," Yoon said during the fourth regulatory innovation strategy meeting held at G Valley Industrial Museum in Guro District, western Seoul.

"In particular, international cooperation is necessary for technology development, and regulatory innovation that meets global standards is necessary for such cooperation."

Yoon stressed that "killer regulations" are directly related to problems of livelihood and "a decisive stumbling block to investment."

Yoon urged speed in removing more regulations and urged officials to focus on breaking such "killer regulations," that are an impediment to investments by businesses. This includes in industrial complexes, the management of chemical materials and the hiring of foreign workers.

He noted that his administration has so far made over 1,400 regulatory improvements.

The Korea Enterprises Federation called the move to increase the cap on foreign workers a "timely measure," noting that such "drastic and groundbreaking regulatory reform is the most realistic solution for our economy to get out of the low-growth tunnel more swiftly."

The Federation of Korean Trade Unions in turn said in a statement, "The government's priority is to make jobs that workers, including young people, want," claiming that filling empty jobs with foreign workers without such efforts otherwise goes against their rights.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]