Normalization of Foreign Worker Entry from 16 Countries Including the Philippines Starting Late November

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government will normalize the entry of foreign workers coming from 16 countries starting at the end of this month.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 5th that at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (CDSCH) meeting, it was decided to allow the entry of foreign workers from all sending countries (16 countries) who have completed vaccination. This measure was prepared within this month as Minister An Kyung-duk declared on the 1st.

Before the outbreak of COVID-19, the number of newly arriving foreign workers was maintained at around 50,000 annually, but it sharply dropped to about 6,000 to 7,000 per year, causing severe labor shortages in small and medium-sized enterprises and rural fishing villages. The 52-hour workweek system was fully expanded to workplaces with five or more employees, and combined with entry restrictions, the field suffered from labor shortages.

Workers from countries with the highest quarantine risk such as the Philippines, Pakistan, Myanmar, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan will be issued visas after 14 days have passed since receiving a World Health Organization (WHO)-approved vaccine in their respective countries. For foreign workers from 11 other countries including Cambodia, entry will be allowed if they test negative on a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test regardless of vaccination status. They will then be required to get vaccinated domestically.

To promptly bring in about 50,000 foreign workers waiting locally for entry, the cap on the number of entrants, which was limited to 50 people per day and 600 people per week, will be lifted. A Ministry of Employment and Labor official said, "The Ministry will negotiate with the 16 sending countries to quickly normalize the entry of foreign workers," adding, "Domestically, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, measures such as exemption from quarantine inspections upon completion of vaccination and preferential treatment when assigning newly arriving foreign workers will be implemented to encourage vaccination at workplaces."

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the number of newly arriving foreign workers was 51,365 in 2019 but sharply dropped to 6,686 last year, and as of last month, it was only 7,045. The number of foreign workers residing in the country decreased by 58,046 from 276,755 in 2019 to 218,709 as of August this year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.