Korea unveils fresh support measures for foreign workers

The Ministry of Economy and Finance outlined support measures for foreign nationals, focusing on creating programs for those who wish to work in Korea while increasing fees for certain services to fund these new measures.

Choi Sang-mok, minister of economy and finance, speaks during a ministerial meeting held Wednesday. [NEWS1]

The Ministry of Economy and Finance outlined support measures for foreign nationals, focusing on creating programs for those who wish to work in Korea while increasing fees for certain services to fund these new measures.

"We will help foreign talent settle down in Korea by collecting information on those who wish to work or live in Korea for a long time, offering them Korean language training, career training and connecting them with job opportunities," said Choi Sang-mok, minister of economy and finance, during a ministerial meeting on Wednesday.

The meeting discussed areas where Korea's ministries will collaborate, such as support for foreigners and small businesses and how the budget should be allocated. Details about the budget will be announced when the budget plan for 2025 is released at the end of this month.

The Ministry of Education will focus on creating employment-linked majors for international students, which will offer positions at local companies for students who graduate from such programs.

Ministries will also work together to create a system to keep track of foreign nationals who want to live in Korea long-term, rather than staying for a short time to complete degree programs.

Such information will be collected during the visa application process, with the Education Ministry and Ministry of SMEs and Startups using the database to connect these people to jobs.

The Education Ministry's Leading University for International Cooperation program and Global Korea Scholarship program will be allocated more budget next year. The ministry will create three-to-six-month Korean language programs offered abroad and invite more international students through government-funded scholarships.

Support programs will also cover those who wish to create startups in Korea.

The government currently offers entrepreneurship programs for foreign nationals at four organizations in greater Seoul, offering around 40 slots each year. One more organization offering the program will be created outside of greater Seoul, opening 20 more slots.

The Startup Ministry will also provide financial and commercialization support to foreigners who complete those entrepreneurship programs.

Career programs that were exclusively offered to multicultural families will be expanded to cover the general international population.

For example, Korea Polytechnics currently offers career training programs for multicultural families and their children, which will be expanded to cover foreign nationals who don't fall under that category. More career training programs will also be created.

With many new programs planned, the finance ministry aims to fund the incentives by increasing fees for existing programs and creating a social fund.

The Korea Immigration & Integration Program will no longer be free, with program fees estimated at around 1,000 won ($0.70) per hour. According to the Ministry of Justice, a set timeline for the change hasn't been finalized yet but will be implemented in the future.

The fee for foreign residence cards, currently 30,000 won, will be increased to 35,000 won starting in 2025.

The government will also discuss creating a social integration fund, using the profits to fund support programs for foreigners.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]