Republic of Korea

The ILO’s SKILLS-AP programme and the Department for Human Resource Development Services of Korea (HRD Korea), as a part of a long-standing partnership, initiated in 2006 a project on recognizing the newly acquired skills of migrant workers.

The Korean Government’s Employment Permit System has integrated provision of free training and reintegration services with a view to minimising overstay by temporary migrant workers admitted under the EPS.

Over the past 20 years, the immigration into the Republic of Korea has increased at a rapid pace, while emigration of Korean nationals has declined substantially. Previously a country of emigration, Korea has now become a net migrant receiving country. Responding to this rapid change, the government of Korea in recent years has amended and adopted laws and regulations related to immigration, and has introduced new policies to facilitate the integration of migrants into Korean society.

Bangladesh signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding EPS with the Korean government on June 4, 2007 which founded the principles of sending manpower from Bangladesh to Korea. Ministry of Labor of Korea and Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment of Bangladesh are the administrative and decision-making ministries of the respective countries with regard to recruitment of Bangladeshi workers under EPS.

The South Korean Employment Permit System adopts a government-to-government placement approach to minimize exploitation of temporary migrant workers, notably the excessive recruitment free. Recruitment and deployment under its MOUs with countries like Bangladesh and the Philippines will thus be via the government recruitment arms. This could reduce the costs of migrating to nominal cost-recovery level. 

The Migration Research and Training Center (MRTC) conducts a wide range of research and education projects related to migration policy development in collaboration with partnering organizations in and outside Korea.

This Program offers courses on Korean language and society to foreign immigrants, encouraging them to sign up by offering certain incentives (e.g., they will be exempt from the written exam and interview for acquiring citizenship and the waiting period is also shortened).

The Government of Nepal has signed bilateral labour agreements with five major destination countries, namely the Kingdom of Bahrain (April 29, 2008), the State of Qatar (April 21, 2005), the United Arab Emirates (July 3, 2007), the Republic of Korea (July 23, 2007) and Japan (2009). The Government is also taking into consideration signing labour agreements with Oman, Lebanon and Malaysia.