According to the EPS Korea branch under the Department of Foreign Employment, 22,000 Nepalese youth are being sent to South Korea through EPS in 2023. Recently, the Human Resource Department (HRD) of the South Korean government has changed some policies on labor supply and has adopted a policy of giving more quota to countries that can send workers faster.

The director of EPS Korea branch, Pushparaj Katuwal, informed that Nepal has received more quota this time because EPS branch has succeeded in sending workers quickly and efficiently by completing the procedures set by the South Korean government.

He said, “The selection process of workers going to Korea from Nepal through EPS is transparent, we have been able to prepare workers quickly according to the standards set by HRD.” That is why this year South Korea has started taking more workers from Nepal.

Like other countries, the Korean economy also slowed down for about three years during the Covid-19 epidemic. As the economic activity decreased, the demand for labor was also low, but with the recent increase in economic activity, the need for foreign workers in Korea has increased. In 2022, about 15,000 young people have reached South Korea through EPS.

For some years, the government has been sending Nepali youth to Korea after completing all the procedures under EPS. People going to Korea must first pass the language test. After completing other normal procedures, Nepali youth can go to South Korea gradually according to the quota.

From the language test to other procedures, representatives of the Korean government are also involved. It has been more than a decade and a half that Nepali youth have been going to South Korea through the EPS system.

In the two years before the start of the Covid-19 epidemic, the number of Nepalis entering Korea was only 1,414. In the 14 years before the corona virus, Korea has been taking an average of 5,000 workers from Nepal every year.

More than 15,000 have reached Korea in the last one year (from November to January). So far, Nepalese youth have gone to Korea to work mainly in two areas: agriculture and animal husbandry and production.

According to the EPS branch, in 2023, 10 thousand 758 people have received demand for agriculture and animal husbandry only through EPS. After completing the language test for agriculture, the skill test training has also been announced.

The EPS Labor Language Examination, which has been held every year since 2008, was postponed for two years in 2020 and 2021 due to the corona virus.

Although Korea has been demanding workers from 16 different countries in the productive, agricultural and animal husbandry, service, and construction sectors, Nepal has been demanding workers only in the agricultural and productive sectors. The demand for production for the year 2023 has not yet arrived.

Since Korea has adopted a policy of not setting quotas nationally from this year, the branch has said that due to Nepali’s diligence and honesty in their work, the demand for production for Nepalis is expected to be around 30,000.

It is good news for the youth that a country with more security and facilities like Korea is trying to take Nepalis in large numbers in such a desperate situation of foreign employment.

It has been reported that Korea, which has experienced a severe labor shortage after the Covid epidemic, is planning to bring more than one lakh workers from 16 different countries including Nepal.

For labor supply, he has removed the previous country-based quota system and has adopted a policy of giving more from the country that sends the fastest labor.

Among the countries where Korea demands foreign workers, Nepal is among the countries that send workers rapidly. This is the reason why Nepal is likely to get more quota in the future. There is news in today’s Gorkhapatra daily.