South Korea to provide language training for Thai workers

BANGKOK, August 1 (TNA) - Thailand and South Korea have joined hands to provide language training for Thai nationals who want to work in South Korea. Thai Permanent Secretary for Labour Somkiat Chayasriwong said that the cooperation between the Thai and South Korean governments was agreed during his meeting with South Korean Ambassador to Thailand Lim Jae Hong in Bangkok on Tuesday, aimed to expand the Thai labour market to South Korea, where demand for Thai workers have been growing due to their hard working and politeness. Somkiat told reporters, as Thai people are required to pass a language test in order to work in South Korea, resulting in only about half of 8,000 Thai workers granted an annual quota to work in South Korea have been able to enter the South Korean workforces so far, the Thai and South Korean governments have, therefore, resolved to provide them with training for basic Korean language so that they will pass the required test. Under the agreed cooperation, South Korea will send native speakers to teach the basic Korean language to Thai nationals wanting to work in South Korea; while the Thai Ministry of Labour's Department of Employment and Department of Skill Development will arrange venues and open more centres for the training, as well as will improve content of the Korean language training course to ensure that more Thai workers will pass Seoul's required test. Most of migrant workers in South Korea, or some 70 per cent, work in the local industrial sector under government-to-government (G-to-G) contracts, with each Thai migrant worker required to pay 25,000 baht in order to work in South Korea for four years and 10 months in return for a monthly wage or salary of 28,000–35,000 baht. According to the senior official, the South Korean government has revised relevant laws to allow re-entry and re-employment for Thai workers whose employment contracts, four years and 10 months each, have been complete on a condition that they will have to return to Thailand for at least three months before going back to work in South Korea, a measure implemented to solve the problem of illegal migration in the East Asian nation. The senior official acknowledged that more than 2,500 Thai workers who have returned home since 2005 and will not fly back to work in South Korea will all receive their financial warrant back, 30,000-100,000 baht each on average. (TNA)