Those who wish to apply for work have to pass two tests.

This year, the Korean Ministry of Employment and Labour’s Human Resources Development Service has applied new requirements to select experienced labourers who meet both professional and physical criteria.

Instead of taking only one test in Korean language proficiency (EPS-TOPIK) like in previous years, labourers have to take one more to test their professional skills and competency.

The computer-based language proficiency test for Vietnamese workers will be held for those in the manufacturing and construction industries from July 2-31 and the fishery sector from September 23 to October 11.

The workers will sit a professional skill and competency test in September for those in manufacturing and construction, and in November for fishery sector candidates.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will recruit 2,600 fishery labourers; 1,000 manufacturing labourers and 300 construction labourers.

The Centre for Overseas Labour will receive test applications from May 15-17. The exam fee is 24 USD per person.

The centre will announce application venues later. The test results will be published on the centre’s website at www.colab.gov.vn; EPS website www.eps.go.kr or EPS-TOPIK website www.eps.hrdkorea.or.kr/epstopic

Labourers qualified for the tests are those who have not worked in the RoK before and those who worked in the RoK under EPS programme and returned home after the contracts had expired.

Those who illegally stayed in the RoK after the contracts had ended and voluntarily returned home between April and December 2016; July and October, 2017, and October 2018 and March 2019 are allowed to take the tests this year.

The RoK has blocked labourers from some Vietnamese provinces and cities to apply for EPS because the labourers from these localities overstayed and lived illegally in the RoK after the contracts had expired.

The EPS programme is implemented to realise the Memorandum of Understanding on supplying and receiving Vietnamese workers to the RoK between the two governments.

Nearly 50,000 Vietnamese workers are working in the RoK, with about 16,000 of them having stayed after their contracts expired.-VNS