South Korea’s foreign worker acceptance policy, like Japan’s, is implemented to address labor shortages caused by a declining birthrate and aging population. While South Korea had historically accepted only highly skilled professionals in principle, severe labor shortages led to the introduction of foreign worker acceptance systems similar to Japan’s from the 1990s onward.

After the systems were introduced, numerous social problems related to foreign workers arose, and they failed to resolve labor shortages or reduce undocumented workers. From 2000 onward, the systems were substantially revised, and the Employment Permit System (EPS) has been in place since 2004.

The Employment Permit System has produced results that improve the protection of foreign workers’ human rights and social security.

As a neighboring country in Asia, South Korea’s foreign worker acceptance policy has interesting aspects and is a system worth referencing.

What Is South Korea’s “Employment Permit System”?

South Korea adopted a system modeled on Japan’s Technical Intern Training Program and continued securing workers to address labor shortages. However, due to issues such as undocumented work and disappearances among foreign nationals, it discontinued that approach and, from 2004, switched to a new system for accepting “foreign workers in non-skilled fields”—the Employment Permit System—which eliminated the pretense of a training program.

Under the Employment Permit System, small and medium-sized enterprises facing severe labor shortages can obtain employment permits for foreign nationals through the government and hire them for a limited period of stay. The accepting industries are five sectors—manufacturing, agriculture and livestock, fisheries, construction, and services—and the system targets unskilled workers.

The introduction of the Employment Permit System has received high praise from overseas and international organizations as a successful example of a foreign worker acceptance system.

Features of the Employment Permit System

● Prohibition of intermediary involvement; a government-led system

Under the former system, which resembled Japan’s Technical Intern Training Program, there were problems with undocumented workers and disappearances, but these have been alleviated by the introduction of the Employment Permit System.

Under the Employment Permit System, the South Korean government takes the lead to exclude intermediaries, and from sending from overseas through acceptance in South Korea, the process is supervised by the Human Resources Development Service of Korea under the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

Under the Employment Permit System, agreements are concluded between each sending country and the South Korean government. The 16 sending countries are the Philippines, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Cambodia, China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Timor-Leste, and Laos.

● Foreign nationals receive the same treatment as Korean nationals as workers

The system is designed with consideration for the protection of foreign workers’ human rights and social security. Based on labor-related laws, foreign nationals are recognized as being covered by the same provisions as Korean nationals, including industrial accident compensation insurance, employment insurance, the national pension, health insurance, the minimum wage, and the three labor rights.

● Foreign employment does not reduce the employment rate of Korean nationals

Under the Employment Permit System, foreign nationals may be hired only when positions advertised for Korean nationals cannot be filled. In addition, companies facing labor shortages prioritize hiring older workers and women domestically, and accept foreign nationals only for remaining unfilled positions.

● Contributes to a reduction in undocumented residents

Under the Employment Permit System, to prevent improper conduct from sending countries, the exclusion of intermediaries and agreements between sending countries and the South Korean government have made the entire process transparent, contributing to a reduction in undocumented residents. In addition, caps are set on the number of foreign nationals entering South Korea and on the number that individual companies may hire, so the policy does not accept more foreign workers than necessary.

● A system that does not contemplate permanent residence

The Employment Permit System is divided into general foreign workers and special foreign workers.

Special foreign workers are those who have blood relatives of Korean nationality, while general foreign workers are foreign nationals.

The period of stay for general foreign workers is three years, and if re-employed, an extension of one year and 10 months is possible.

The Employment Permit System is not an immigration measure; its purpose is to secure unskilled workers who can rotate through short-term stays. In addition, those who return to their home countries after completing their period of stay receive a “departure guarantee insurance payment” as a form of severance pay.

Because permanent residence in South Korea requires five years of settled residence, the system is not designed with permanent residence acquisition in mind for general foreign workers.

Evaluation of the Employment Permit System

The Employment Permit System has produced concrete results, including high praise from the International Labour Organization and receipt of the United Nations Public Service Award.

South Korea has also announced that it will further enhance the system and strengthen the legal protection of foreign workers.

South Korea’s Social Integration Measures

The introduction of the Employment Permit System has had a major impact on improving the protection of foreign workers’ rights and on changes in the public’s awareness of human rights.

In South Korea, to avoid problems such as intercultural friction, human rights violations, and discrimination that arise with the transition to a multicultural coexistence society, proactive social integration policies and support measures for settled residents have been advanced, and the Framework Act on Treatment of Foreigners was enacted in 2007.

In addition, under the Multicultural Families Support Act enacted in 2008, the national and local governments actively engage in support for marriages between Korean and foreign nationals and for enabling settlement in South Korea.

Conclusion

South Korea, like Japan, shares the common challenge of a severe labor shortage. South Korea’s foreign worker acceptance measures also actively advance social integration policies and take an approach of accepting foreign nationals as members of Korean society.

The Employment Permit System offers a useful comparison with Japan’s Specified Skilled Worker and Technical Intern Training statuses of residence and can serve as a practical example for reviewing Japan’s systems.