Quota of this year for Foreign Workers (south korea)

Beginning this month, a total of 34,000 workers with E-9 and H-2 visas -- 17,000 each -- will be allowed to enter the country to work in the sectors of manufacturing, construction, service, farming and livestock, as well as fisheries. However, newly arriving ethnic Koreans from China will not be permitted to work in the construction sector because the quota has been slashed to zero, according to ministry officials. About 23,000 workers will be employed in the manufacturing sector. The service industry will see an influx of 6,000 laborers. Construction and farming will each see gains of 2,000 foreign manual workers. One thousand laborers will be employed in the fishery business. Although the ministry has authorized 34,000 new foreign manual workers to enter the country until February of next year, it expects to see an increase of only 5,000 workers as it predicts an exodus of 29,000 undocumented workers in the midst of deepening economic woes. "We''re strictly regulating the foreign labor quota from the first half of this year in an effort to protect domestic workers and the foreign laborers who are already settled here in Korea," said Lee Jae-kap, director of the employment policy division at the ministry. Prior to the global economic slowdown, the quota for foreign laborers had increased annually from 34,750 in 2006 to 49,600 in 2007 and to 72,000 last year. What is different this year is that the ministry designated a specific quota for ethnic Koreans coming from China for the first time. The ministry warned earlier that it would take such action, especially for those serving in the construction field, as early as 2010. But the ethnic Koreans will be granted incentives when they apply for jobs at small and mid-sized manufacturing firms in provincial areas, ministry officials said. Such incentives include shortening the length of stay required for permanent residency from 10 to five years and favorable treatment when inviting their family members to Korea. A survey of domestic workers conducted last year showed that 18 percent of the respondents believed their jobs were being taken away by migrant workers in the construction sector and 40 percent said their income level and working conditions were worsening due to the cheap labor from abroad. According to government statistics, there were over 1.15 million foreigners residing in Korea as of Dec. 31 and 490,109 of them were here on E-9 and H-2 visas.

Monday, March 23, 2009, the Korea Herald

classifcation/ persons/ manufacturing/ construction/ service/ farming and livestock/ fisheries

E-9 Visa Holders 17,000 13,000 2,000 100 1,000 900
H-2 Visa Holders
(Koreans abroad) 17,000 10,000 0 5,900 1,000 100
총계 34,000 23,000 2,000 6,000 2,000 1,000