The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has suspended 40 districts from sending guest workers to South Korea under the Employment Permit System (EPS Programme) due to the high rate of runaway workers.
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According to the ministry, about 100 districts from 11 provinces and cities have 30% of their workers absconded in South Korea.
40 districts that have more than 60 labourers working illegally in South Korea have been banned from sending workers to South Korea in 2019. Those districts have the highest number of illegal workers staying in South Korea.
There are nine districts and cities in Nghe An Province, five districts in Nam Dinh, five districts in Ha Tinh and Hai Duong Province each and two to four districts in Thanh Hoa, Bac Ninh, Quang Binh, Hung Yen and Bac Giang provinces.Depending on the reports from the South Korean government, the ministry will lift or impose the ban in 2020 on districts that cannot reduce the number of absconded workers.
In 2012, South Korea failed to renew a labour agreement signed with Vietnam in 2004 because the number of Vietnamese workers overstaying their visas to work illegally in South Korea rose to more than 50%. Seoul resumed the agreement only in December 2013 after the rate of illegal workers was cut to 38%.
Vietnam had sent 40,000 people to work in South Korea by the end of 2016, but South Korea said 39% of them had overstayed and worked illegally in the country.
