On the occasion of accompanying Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on his official visit to the Republic of Korea (ROK), Minister of Employment - Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung had a meeting with ROK Minister of Employment and Lee Jung Sik to have a discussion the collaboration content between Vietnam and ROK, especially sending Vietnamese workers under the EPS Program, workers with technical expertise and cooperations with localities is increasingly expanding.

Minister Dao Ngoc Dung informed Minister Lee Jung Sik at the forum about the success of the Vietnam - ROK Employment Collaboration Forum. At the Forum, Chinh directed the two Ministries to continue enhancing and closely cooperating in deploying employment dispatching and receiving policies to enhance employment collaborationbetween Vietnam and the ROK to a higher level. In meetings with senior ROK leaders, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also emphasized that both countries should support collaborationin the field of employment in the context of the aging population that has happened rapidly and ROK is facing challenges in sustaining economic growth due to work shortage. In fact, Vietnam is in the golden population period, besides, Vietnamese workers are hard-working and have a spirit of learning.

Talking with ROK’s Minister of Employment Lee Jung Sik, Dung highly appreciated the fact that ROK has issued many new policies and made many efforts to remove difficulties and obstacles to promote the effectiveness of dispatching and receiving foreign workers, including Vietnamese workers. Minister Lee Jung Sik congratulated the success of the Vietnam - ROK Employment Collaboration Forum. Minister Lee Jung Sik informed that Vietnamese workers have now been recruited in 5/6 occupations that allow foreign workers to work (except mining) and affirmed that ROK’s businesses are very satisfied and highly appreciate the skills and working consciousness of Vietnamese workers. In particular, the EPS Program was revised to ensure better and more convenience conditions for employees. Currently, a total of 17 countries participate in the implementation of the EPS Program, Vietnam is the country with the largest number of workers participating in the Program.

The two Ministers agreed to continue enhancing employment collaborationin quality, scale, and industries to meet ROK's economic development demand. At the same time, the two sides will drastically implement policies and measures to reform administrative procedures and enhance transparency in the process of dispatching Vietnamese workers to work in the ROK, including imposing Using information technology.

In fact, Central Vietnam provinces lead number of candidates signing up for South Korean jobs. Nearly 4,900 people in Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces signed up to work in South Korea under an official labor program, accounting for over half of candidates in the first recruitment wave this year.

A Korean language proficiency exam for candidates looking to go to South Korea for work in the Employment Permit System (EPS) will last from March 5 to 26 in Hanoi and Da Nang, according to the Center of Overseas Labor under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Over 8,650 candidates from 53 cities and provinces have signed up for the test, aiming for jobs in sectors like agriculture, fishery and construction.

Among them, the localities with the highest number of people signing up is Thanh Hoa at 1,941 candidates, followed by Nghe An at 1,523 candidates, Ha Tinh at 1,416 candidates and Quang Binh at 942 candidates.

Those passing the Korean language proficiency test will have their working skills put to the test in another examination from April to July. 15,400 people are expected to be recruited to work abroad, and the number of people signing up so far has only met 56% of the recruitment quota.

The overseas labor center said it would take photos and collect fingerprints from candidates for the test. The exam itself would be handled by the Human Resources Development Service of Korea. The multiple-choice test would be graded automatically by a computer.

Among the potential candidates, eight people were removed from the pool due to having violated examination regulations in previous times. Those who commit exam violations will have their test results voided and be banned from taking the test for the next four years.

There is no guarantee for candidates to secure a job even after having passed both rounds of examination, and the exact time for them to go to South Korea will not be immediately confirmed. Authorities recommend candidates to continue working at their usual jobs after sending in their applications.

The EPS, launched in 2004, has brought 127,000 people from Vietnam to South Korea for work so far. By October 2023, over 36,000 EPS workers, including 10,000 who illegally stayed, had been living in South Korea.

Vietnam sent around 155,000 people to work abroad last year, an 8.5% increase from 2022. Around 650,000 Vietnamese workers are currently working in 40 countries and territories.