In-depth
Vietnam warned over absconding workers in South Korea
  • | dtinews.vn | September 11, 2011 10:35 AM

Thousands of Vietnamese workers are absconding after completing their labour contracts in South Korea in order to remain in the country.

 

 

Vietnamese workers lining up to enter South Korea

The Ministry of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs (MoLISA)’s Department of Overseas Labour Management and Ha Tinh provincial Department of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs co-hosted a meeting in Nghi Xuan District on September 8 in order to discuss measures to deal with the situation.

Rising number of absconding workers

According to the Department of Overseas Labour Management, Vietnam has officially sent nearly 63,000 workers to work in South Korea under the guest country’s employment permit system (EPS) programme since 2004. Each worker accepted by the scheme pays a fixed USD710 fee, but can earn over USD1,000 per month on average.

However, South Korea is increasingly worried about the rising number of Vietnamese workers absconding after completing their labour contracts or never turning up at their official work place in order to illegally live in the country.

South Korea’s Ministry of Labour and Employment said that 8,780 out of over 60,000 Vietnamese workers in South Korea were illegally residing in the country. Notably, South Korea had reported an increasing number of Vietnamese workers who disappear immediately after entering the country, Department of Overseas Labour Management’s Deputy Direcroe Dao Cong Hai said.

As many as 25 Vietnamese workers disappeared after arriving in South Korea since the begining of this year, Hai noted.

Vietnam also tops the list for having the largest number of workers in South Korean who ask to change jobs for no specific reason, they said.

Jung Jin Joung, Director of South Korea Human Resources Development Agency in Vietnam, said the situation is troubling South Korean employers.

According to Joung, each Vietnamese worker in South Korea earns between VND200-300 million (USD9,599-14,399) per annum. If the Vietnamese Government does not take measures to tackle the problem, South Korea may stop receiving Vietnamese workers.

In the meantime, Dao Cong Hai said that Vietnamese workers in South Korean remit almost USD700 per year each. If South Korea refuses Vietnamese workers, it could have a negative impact on the 50,000 Vietnamese people studying Korean in order to work abroad.

How to improve the situation?

Workers who flee after entering South Korea often use false health dossiers in order to sign contracts with higher pay.

Hoang Dinh Hung, Chairman of Cuong Gian Commune, which has the largest number of Vietnamese workers in South Korea, proposed a method that they had successfully adopted.

When a worker comes to work in South Korea, their families commit to a pledge and act as a guarantor. Before their exit, the communal government will temporarily hold their family’s land use right certificate and dossiers of their relatives. If they flee, it will affect their relatives at home.

Nguyen Van Son, Director of the provincial Department of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs asked families whose relatives in South Korea had fled to urge their family members return home as soon as possible before being caught.

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