The Vietnamese Embassy in the Republic of Korea (RoK) held a meeting on December 23 with Vietnamese labourers working in Gyeonggi province’s Ansan city and surrounding areas to welcome the New Year.

The event was organised in coordination with the Overseas Labour Centre under the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), and the Western Union of RoK.
Phan Van Minh, Director of the centre, delivered New Year greetings to all labourers in RoK, applauding the efforts of Vietnamese workers in recent years, and pointing out existing problems.

According to the centre, most labourers follow their working contracts and abide by the law of Vietnam and RoK. However, the growing number of Vietnamese workers that refuse to leave has negatively impacted the image of the workers themselves and the labour cooperation between the two countries.

For this reason, the RoK’s Ministry of Labour and Employment has decided not to accept any more Vietnamese workers, and suspended Korean-language tests for people that want to work in RoK.

Since late December 2011, the Vietnamese Department of Overseas Labour has cooperated with RoK Human Resource Development (HRD) to organise five Korean-language tests for 3,219 workers that departed as scheduled and wish to return for work.

Since July 2, 2012, RoK has allowed former foreign workers to return to RoK within three months without having to take a language test, Minh said.

On December 22, a similar meeting was held in Daegu province, attracting 1,000 Vietnamese labourers.-VNA