S.Korea to seek more foreign workers amid population crisis
07 Jul 2023 04:22pm
Picture for illustrative purposes - FILE PIX
"We need to work together to reach a social consensus that accepting foreign workers and rolling out immigration policies are vital for the sustainable growth of the economy," Yonhap news agency quoted First Vice Finance Minister Bang Ki Sun as saying during a meeting on foreign labour policies.
The meeting came as South Korea has been exploring ways to invite more foreign workers to the country, as its working population is expected to reach 33.81 million in 2030, falling sharply from 37.63 million tallied in 2019.
"(The decline) is set to lead to a shortage of workforce in the labour market, with the economic growth expected to slow," Bang said.
The South Korean government recently decided to expand the number of skilled foreign workers eligible for the E-7 visa, granted to those with special abilities, to 30,000 in 2023, compared to 2,000 in the previous year.
"We will proactively assess the potential social and economic challenges that may arise with increased immigration, while simultaneously improving settlement conditions and promoting social integration," Bang said.
South Korea's total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime, hit a record low of 0.78 in 2022, much lower than the replacement level of 2.1 that would keep South Korea's population stable at 51 million.
The government plans to unveil its blueprint for immigration policy in the second half of 2023 - BERNAMA
