The new policy that requires Vietnamese workers, who want to work in South Korea, to deposit VND 100 million (USD4,800) before leaving Vietnam, has become a big challenge for them.

During her recent visit to Vietnam, South Korean President Park Geun-Hye, signed an agreement with the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour Invalids and Social Affairs, to continue accepting Vietnamese workers to her country under the Employment Permit System--EPS.

This is good news for nearly 14,000 Vietnamese workers who have been waiting a long time for this, however, the collateral deposit is becoming another, perhaps more difficult, challenge for many of them.

According to T.C, a woman from Thanh Hoa Province who passed the Korean language test in December 2011 but could not go due to South Korea's decision to stop accepting Vietnamese workers.

"I was really happy when the two governments signed the agreement again," T.C said. “But I'm really worried about the VND 100 million collateral deposit."

According to an official from the Thanh Hoa Department of of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Le Dinh Tung, more than 2,000 people in the province have completed their procedures and CVs for leaving to work in South Korea but the collateral deposit is still a big problem for them.

"People coming from low-income families can borrow money from the Bank for Social Policies," Tung said. "But those who cannot borrow may not be able to go."

Meanwhile, deputy minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Nguyen Thanh Hoa, said that this deposit will force workers to abide by their labour contracts, which will ensure a stable market for all Vietnamese workers.

Hoa said that the two governments are still working on measures to reorganise the EPS Program and curb the number of illegal immigrant workers.

"At present, the number of Vietnamese working illegally in South Korea has been reduced to 40% from the previous 50%," he revealed.

Hoa also added that they were completing the memorandum for the new cooperation agreement and he expected to sign it with the South Korean government before October 10.

"So, we are going to send the CVs of 14,000 workers to South Korean employers during the last three months of this year, and, they said they will choose 4,600 from this group."

Vietnam started to send workers to South Korea in August 2004 under the EPS Program. 71,000 Vietnamese workers have been sent to South Korea so far and they have brought nearly USD 1 billion back to Vietnam.

Earlier this year, South Korea announced that they would not accept any new Vietnamese workers this year due to the rising number of illegal immigrants.