The rate of Vietnamese workers who have breached the rules of their work permits and illegally stayed in the Republic of Korea reached nearly 35% by early April, according to the Overseas Labour Management Department under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA).

The MoLISA and local authorities are taking efforts to reduce the rate of illegal workers. At present, the RoK receives guest workers from 16 countries, with an average of about 8-9% of workers illegally remaining, and 15-16% staying behind in the worst cases.

Meanwhile, the number of Vietnamese workers who illegally remain in the RoK greatly exceeds those rates at 32% or even up to 40%. Nghe An, Hanoi, Hai Duong, Thanh Hoa, and Hai Phong report the highest rates, accounting for 85% of undocumented Vietnamese workers in the RoK

Recently, the MoLISA has announced a temporarily halt to its recruitment of labourers from 49 localities according to the Employment Permit System (EPS) programme 2018.

These localities are being penalized for each having more than 60 workers who failed to return home after the expiry of their labour contracts and will not be allowed to send their workers to the RoK in 2018.

The RoK has issued a warning against receiving workers from 107 localities next year if the number of undocumented workers from these localities keep rising.

VOV