To facilitate this, the government has launched a "department for specialized technical development" at 16 vocational colleges across the country.

The policy aims to shift away from recruiting foreign workers for simple labor and instead leverage these schools to cultivate high-quality talent who can settle in Korea on a stable basis and receive adequate wages, according to Korea.net, the official multilingual web portal of the South Korean government managed by the Korean Culture and Information Service.

While foreign students typically need to prove finances totaling up to 20 million won (US$13,730), depending on the region, those with a Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) score of Level 3 or higher will be exempt from this requirement when applying for the D-2 visa under this new scheme.

The 16 participating programs are distributed across the nation, with a significant concentration in Gyeonggi Province. These include the automotive engineering departments at Gyeonggi University of Science and Technology and Daelim University; textile and fashion business programs at Bucheon University and Seojeong University; electrical engineering at Osan University; and automotive and mechanical engineering at Yong-In Arts & Science University.

In Busan, the initiative covers mechanical engineering programs at Kyungnam College of Information & Technology and Dong-Eui Institute of Technology, as well as the School of Automobile at the Busan Institute of Science and Technology.

North Jeolla Province hosts two participating programs: the Department of Smart Agri-food Resources at Kunjang University College and the Department of Automobile Engineering at Vision College of Jeonju. The remaining programs include the Department of SMART CAD/CAM at Yeungjin University in Daegu; the Department of Special Constructing Equipment at Gumi University in North Gyeongsang; the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Geoje University in South Gyeongsang; the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Ulsan College in Ulsan; and the Department of Renewable Energy and Electricity at Mokpo Science University in South Jeolla.

Graduates who secure employment in their major field with an annual salary of at least 26 million won will qualify for the E-7-M work visa, provided they hold either Korea Immigration & Integration Program level 4 or higher or TOPIK level 5 or above.

The Ministry of Justice plans to introduce this new visa category, to be known as the K-College to Regional Employment (K-CORE) visa, in the near future. Once on the E-7-M visa, holders can apply for the F-2 resident visa after five years of employment, or three years if they work in a region designated by the government as facing population decline.

Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho emphasized the collaborative nature of the project.

"We will actively work with local governments, vocational colleges and relevant ministries to foster outstanding talent who have skills and Korean language proficiency, also addressing population decline and regional labor shortages," Jung told the Korea JoongAngDaily.

The designated programs and associated visa benefits will operate on a trial basis through the end of 2027, at which point the Ministry of Justice will assess whether to extend the scheme.

Subsidiary of VnExpress

License number: 71/GP-CBC, Ministry of Information andCommunications, September 22, 2021

Editor-in-Chief: Pham Van Hieu

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