A seminar was held on October 29 in Seoul, the Republic of Korea (RoK), to disseminate new regulations relating to Vietnamese guest workers employed in the RoK under the Employment Permit System (EPS) programme.

Pham Minh Duc, head of the EPS Office, addresses the event

Pham Minh Duc, head of the EPS Office, said the annual event provides a platform in which to discuss new regulations and policies, along with emerging issues relating to Vietnamese migrant workers in the RoK, especially amid the challenges brought about by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Addressing the seminar, Kim Sung-jae, director of the Human Resource Development Service of Korea (HRDK), highlighted the diligence of Vietnamese guest workers, adding that since the beginning of the year the RoK has not admitted any new guest workers from Vietnam as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic.

He advised Vietnamese workers whose labour contracts have expired to visit the RoK’s immigration offices in order to apply for a temporary suspension of their exit permit. The HRDK will continue to organise additional activities in an effort to support foreign workers as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control in the RoK.

According to the HRDK representative, plenty of Vietnamese workers have yet to receive their insurance money payouts.

Duc noted that up to 5,000 insurance premiums totaling over VND50 billion has yet to be taken back by Vietnamese workers, while the EPS Office has sent a list of more than 4,000 workers who have yet to receive insurance from the Labour Department in 63 provinces nationwide.

Currently, there are approximately 1,200 Vietnamese guest workers under the EPS programme who have returned to the country on repatriation flights from the RoK

As of June 30, roughly 34,600 Vietnamese migrant workers were still working in the RoK under the EPS scheme.