Korea | 70,000 Korean Chinese Face Job Loss

Around 70,000 ethnic Koreans from China working here face the end of their temporary employment visas. Korea opened its doors to ethnic Koreans mostly from China in 2007 to make up for a shortage of workers here in so-called 3D — dirty, dangerous and difficult — jobs.

But the four-year, 10-month work visas start to expire this year, the Justice Ministry says. The 70,000 ethnic Koreans face the tough choice of staying on illegally or heading home.

They could go home and reapply for another visa one year later. But there is a long line of applicants back in China for temporary work visas here, and there is an age limit, compounding concerns for those whose permits are set to expire.

“The Justice Ministry has come up with measures but set the age limit at 55, and there are no guarantees what will happen to them a year on, so many of them are reluctant to go home,” said Lee Kang-hoo, head of an association for Korea-China exchanges.

Ban Jae-yeol at the immigration department said the ministry “is looking into various measures to deal with the situation.” “We also have to find a way to accommodate around 200,000 people on the waiting list there,” he added.

Some 587,732 foreigners are in Korea on work visas, including 289,981 Korean Chinese, and another 7,538 who are here illegally, government officials estimate…

Source:

Read More @ The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea – 70,000 Korean Chinese Face Loss of Jobs Here.