South Korea resumes entry of Bangladeshi expat workers

The Government of the Republic of Korea recently decided to resume the entry of Bangladeshi expatriate workers to the country, which has been suspended since June last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation.

Ambassador Lee Jang-keun informed this decision to Minister of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, Imran Ahmed, at his meeting with the minister at his office today, according to a press release of Embassy of the Republic of Korea.

Ambassador Lee also requested Bangladesh government to take necessary precautions to ensure that no Covid-19 positive cases are found among Bangladeshi expatriate workers arriving in Korea by taking necessary measures before, during, and after their arrival, including full vaccination.

Minister Imran, expressing deep appreciation to the decision of the Korean Government, assured full cooperation with the Korean authorities for a smooth and successful resumption of Bangladeshi expatriate workers' entry and re-entry to South Korea.

Korean Government has been admitting foreign expatriate workers from 16 countries, including Bangladesh, under the Employment Permit System (EPS) since 2004.

Currently the number of Bangladeshi workers staying in Korea under this system is around 7,500 which used to be over 10,000 before the pandemic. During the 2020-21 fiscal year, the amount of remittance sent by Bangladeshi expatriates in South Korea recorded historic high with 209 million US dollars which made Korea the 13th major remittance source country for Bangladesh.