In 2024, 165,000 foreign workers will enter Korea on non-professional work visas (E-9). This will be the highest number ever. The industries they can work in will also be expanded to include restaurants, mining and forestry.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced the decision in a meeting of the Foreign Workforce Policy Committee on Nov. 27.
When breaking down the number of E-9 visas issued by industry, manufacturing is the largest with 95,000. This is followed by 16,000 in the agriculture industry, 13,000 in the service industry, 10,000 in the fishing industry, 6,000 in the construction industry, and 5,000 in the shipbuilding industry. The remaining 20,000 are flexible quotas that are allocated regardless of industries.
E-9 visas are issued through an employment permit system introduced in 2004. The employment permit system is a system that issues E-9 and visitor visas (H-2) to small and medium-sized enterprises that cannot find Korean laborers to allow them to hire foreign workers.
So far, the number of foreign laborers who entered Korea with E-9 visas has steadily increased from 52,000 in 2021 to 69,000 in 2022 and 120,000 this year.
The Korean government will expand the scope of E-9 visa issuance industries from agriculture, fishing, manufacturing, construction, and some service industries to restaurants, mining, and forestry in 2024.
In the restaurant industry, the Korean government will pilot the use of foreign laborers as kitchen assistants in restaurants in Jeju, Sejong, and 98 basic local governments in Korea. In principle, full-time (40-hour workweek) employment will be required, and a survey will be conducted by the second half of next year to check laborer management.
Considering the high rate of closures, businesses with fewer than five full-time workers must have at least seven years of business experience to hire one foreign worker, and businesses with five or more workers must have at least five years of business experience to hire two foreign workers.
Currently, only Chinese nationals with H-2 visas can work in the restaurant industry in Korea. Experts expect that 15,000 to 17,000 foreigners will be employed in 100 local restaurants including 13,000 in restaurants with less than five employees and 4,400 in restaurants with more than five employees.
In addition, mining companies with an annual output of more than 150,000 tons can hire foreign workers and forestry companies can hire foreign workers at forestry business corporations and seedling production companies.
As early as April, the restaurant industry will be able to apply for the second round of employment permits next year, following the designation of sending countries, personnel selection, and employment training organizations. The forestry and mining industries will be able to apply for the use of foreign laborers with E-9 visas from July when they apply for the third round of employment permits next year.
However, there are also criticisms that foreign workers will be deployed to restaurants with fewer than five employees as those are blind spots in labor law. In response, the government said that it will consider further expansion of the restaurant industry by fully collecting opinions from stakeholders such as customers and workers in the industry and also the relevant ministries’ evaluations of joint pilot projects.
Moreover, the government will strengthen residence management and support for foreign workers to ensure their smooth settlement and resolve difficulties in human resources management at workplaces.
For the newly included industries, the government will conduct job training and occupational safety training specialized for the industries through its own training institutions, such as industry associations, forestry training institutes, and the Korea Mine Rehabilitation and Mineral Resources Corporation, and set acceptance standards in consideration of business environments and the characteristics of the employment permit system.
Meanwhile, the Task Force on Integrated Management of Foreign Labor plans to map out a rational management plan for foreign labor in the first half of next year based on the results of inter-ministerial discussions.