Korea to resume entry of new Sri Lankan migrant workers

The Korean Government has decided to resume the entry of new Sri Lankan workers to Korea in the near future, the Ambassador of South Korea to Sri Lanka Santhush Woojin Jeong announced today.

Santhush Woojin Jeong said Korea is to open its doors for new migrant workers from Sri Lanka.

Earlier, only the re-entering migrant workers had been able to enter Korea and the entry of new foreign workers to Korea had been restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“However, the vaccination rate is getting high enough to accommodate the foreign workers and the worldwide COVID-19 situation has become more stable. That is why the Korean Government decided to restart the entry of new foreign workers including Sri Lankans on the condition of fulfillment of the Korean government’s public health guidelines. In the beginning, Korea will welcome a limited number of new foreign employees as the first batch and this number will gradually increase,” the Ambassador said in a statement.

Santhush Woojin Jeong said that resolving the migrant worker issue has been one of the top priorities for him as the Korean Ambassador to Sri Lanka.

He further said that the Korean Government and the Korean Embassy highly value the significant role of Sri Lankan migrant workers and their precious contribution.

More than 20,000 Sri Lankan employees are in Korea at present, while around US$ 520 million had been transmitted by them from Korea to Sri Lanka in 2019.