Korea to open doors for Sri Lankan Migrant Workers, soon

COLOMBO (News 1st); South Korea has announced that Sri Lankan migrant employees will be able to enter Korea and assume their new jobs very soon.

Recently, the Government of the Republic of Korea decided to resume the entry of new Sri Lankan workers and workers from other foreign countries to Korea, said the Korean Ambassdor to Sri Lanka in a statement to News 1st on Thursday (11).

"Because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, only the re-entering migrant workers had been able to enter Korea and the entry of new foreign workers to Korea had been restricted," Korean Ambassador Santhush Woonjin JEON.

"However the vaccination rate is getting high enough to accommodate the foreign workers and the worldwide COVID-19 situation has become more stable. That is why the Korean Government decided to restart the entry of new foreign workers including Sri Lankans on condition of fulfilment of Korean government’s public health guideline. In the beginning, Korea will welcome a limited number of new foreign employees as the first batch and this number will gradually increase," he added.

Resolving the migrant worker issue has been one of the top priorities to me as Korean Ambassador to Sri Lanka.

The Korean Embassy and EPS Center in Sri Lanka have worked hard to resume the entry procedure.

The Embassy has also maintained the close coordination with the Sri Lankan government to solve this issue.

"The migrant workers bridge both countries in many ways, as they continue to contribute to the economic development of Korea and Sri Lanka," said the Ambassador.

More than 20,000 Sri Lankan employees are presently in Korea and around 520 million US dollars were transmitted by them from Korea to Sri Lanka in 2019.

"I am glad to share this positive news with Sri Lanka. The Korean Embassy will continue to work closely with Sri Lankan government to strengthen our bilateral labour cooperation," said Korean Ambassador Santhush Woonjin JEON.

"As my Sri Lankan name “Santhush” which means happiness, Korea would like to share happiness together with Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan people," he added.