The first group of Vietnamese workers has been sent to South Korea to work under a labor program that has resumed after 16 months of suspension.  

>> Vietnam sets up office to manage workers in S. Korea>> Laborers must pay $4,800 deposit to be sent to S. Korea>> Vietnamese workers to be sent to RoK again>> South Korea stops receiving Vietnamese workers The group is comprised of 45 workers who had previously worked in South Korea and returned to Vietnam on schedule when their contracts expired. Before leaving Vietnam for South Korea on Wednesday, January 1, these workers passed a Korean language test. They are the first to be sent to South Korea after Vietnam and South Korea recently inked a special deal to resume the Employment Permit System (EPS) program, which was signed between the two countries in 2008. This program was halted by South Korea in August 2012 after reports showed that a large number of Vietnamese workers overstayed their visas to work illegally in the country. According to the latest statistics of the South Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor, the proportion of Vietnamese workers who overstayed to work illegally in the country decreased from 49.9 percent in July 2013 to 38.2 percent in October 2013. The special agreement will be valid for a year from December 31, 2013, but only for candidates who have registered for or passed a Korean language test in 2011 or 2012. The total number of such candidates is about 14,000. After the special agreement expires at the end of 2014, the two countries will review the situation of Vietnamese workers in South Korea—especially the proportion of Vietnamese who overstay after their contract terminates—to decide whether or not Vietnamese workers will be allowed to continue to work in South Korea under the EPS program.

Under a regulation of the Government that took effect on August 21, 2013, qualified candidates sent to South Korea for work under the EPS program are required to pay a refundable deposit of US$4,800. The collection of this deposit aims to strengthen the responsibility of workers sent to South Korea under the program.