At the meeting, the two sides discussed the contents of the legal policies of Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (ROK) on the supply and reception of Vietnamese workers to ROK to work; important and necessary information in order to solve issues in sending Vietnamese workers to work in ROK in recent times. 

At the meeting, Deputy Minister Nguyen Ba Hoan highly appreciated the diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (ROK) in recent years. Especially in the fields related to social security, vocational education, and sending Vietnamese workers to work in ROK.

The Deputy Minister said that ROK is a high-income market, close culture, so it has attracted many Vietnamese workers. Currently, there are nearly 49,000 Vietnamese workers working in ROK.

Vietnamese workers go to work in ROK  through 4 channels, but the largest and most effective number is through the Employment Authorization Program (EPS Program). Since 1993, Vietnam has brought more than 122,000 Vietnamese labourers to work in ROK under the EPS Program.

On the occasion of the President of the ROK and his Spouse visiting Vietnam from June 22nd -24th, 2023, the Minister of Labour - Invalids and Social Affairs and the Minister of Employment and Labour of ROK signed an Agreement on sending and receiving labourers to working in ROK under the EPS Employment Permit Program for the period 2023-2024.

Vietnam and ROK have implemented many effective cooperation programs in the fields of human resource development, labour market and social security. The two sides have cooperated to establish 05 Vietnam - Korea Vocational Colleges. Vocational trainers from Vietnam have been sent to ROK for training. At the same time, ROK has supported Vietnam to build an employment service information network.

The two sides have signed a bilateral insurance agreement and currently implemented discussions to sign an administrative agreement to implement this Agreement.

On behalf of the Delegation, Mr. Shim Chul Eui, Vice Chairman of the People's Council, Senator of Gwangju City thanked Deputy Minister Nguyen Ba Hoan for taking the time to welcome the delegation.

Mr. Shim Chul Eui said that recently, Korea has received about 1,200 foreign workers with high professional and technical qualifications in the field of shipbuilding (E7 visa). And among those workers, according to the assessment of the employer, Vietnamese workers are one of the groups of workers with the best skills, demonstrated through their diligence and hard work, and creativity at work.

He also informed that at the moment, ROK is very short of workers in the shipbuilding industry. This is also a relatively high-income industry in the ROK labour market, but the number of Vietnamese workers coming to work in this field is still a small number, due to the lack of synchronization between the two countries.

Therefore, in the coming time, it is hoped that the two sides will focus on finding ways to remove barriers on this issue. Along with that, enterprises employing workers in ROK and recruiting enterprises in Vietnam will focus on recruiting Vietnamese workers to work in ROK in this industry group./.