Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok Proposes 'Local-Centered Foreigners and Immigration System' to Minister Han Dong-hoon

Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok proposed a local-centered foreigner and immigration system to the Ministry of Justice.

According to Jeonnam Province on the 11th, Governor Kim met with Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon at the provincial office and emphasized that a revolutionary foreigner and immigration system centered on local areas is necessary to respond to local extinction.

Governor Kim said, “Thanks to the Ministry of Justice introducing the visa-free system at Muan International Airport last March, the number of overseas tourists entering Jeonnam has greatly increased,” adding, “By significantly expanding and extending the quota and stay period for non-professional workers (E-9), the supply of labor in Jeonnam’s representative industries such as agriculture, fisheries, and shipbuilding has been revitalized.”

He further stressed the urgency of a consistent foreigner policy and a national control tower for the success of foreign worker inflow and immigration policies, and proposed various policies to the Ministry of Justice, including ▲improvement plans for foreign worker inflow policies ▲establishment of an immigration office ▲diversification of countries of foreign inflow.

Regarding the Employment Permit System, which allows the employment of unskilled foreign workers for up to 9 years and 8 months, he suggested granting incentives to depopulated areas and allocating 50% of the quota to metropolitan local governments so that it can be operated according to regional circumstances.

He also requested allowing one family member of international students (D-2) and unskilled foreign workers (E-9) to accompany them as seasonal workers to help them settle early in Korea.

Regarding the establishment of the immigration office, he said, “I actively support the Ministry of Justice’s establishment of an immigration office, which is expected to fundamentally solve the problems of population decline and labor shortages,” and added, “Please expand local government participation and greatly reflect local voices, similar to Canada’s ‘Provincial Nominee Program,’ which grants comprehensive discretionary authority to provincial governments.”

In response, Minister Han Dong-hoon stated, “Jeonnam faces difficulties in attracting companies and the regional economy due to a small hinterland population, so I visited Jeonnam Province and the local shipbuilding industry this time to hear voices from the field directly.”

He continued, “We successfully implemented policies for Jeonnam’s development such as the ‘Muan Airport visa-free system,’ ‘securing foreign labor for the shipbuilding industry,’ and ‘expanding foreign seasonal workers,’ based on the proposals Governor Kim Young-rok personally made when he visited the Ministry of Justice last year.”

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