KOREAN NET

The quota for non-professional foreign workers next year is set at 207,000. Shown are such laborers on Dec. 18 harvesting water parsley at a farm in Cheolma-myeon Township of Busan's Gijang-gun County. (Yonhap News)

By Aisylu Akhmetzianova

The quota for non-professional foreign workers next year has been set at 207,000.

The Office for Government Policy Coordination, Prime Minister's Secretariat on Dec. 20 said the figure was decided at a meeting of the Foreign Workforce Policy Committee chaired by Minister of Government Policy Coordination Bang Kisun.

The quota covers foreign nationals who enter the country with a work permit on the E-9 (non-professional employee), E-8 (seasonal laborer) and E-10 (vessel crew) visas.

By visa, the number of E-9 holders was capped at 130,000, down 35,000 from this year.

That of E-8s was set 7,000 higher at 75,000 due to declining populations in rural and agricultural villages.

The number of E-10s, a designation with a combined quota system, will reach an estimated 2,100.

Based on the quota discussed in the meeting, the government will consult relevant organizations to finalize next year's figure by visa type and devise an operating plan.

aisylu@korea.kr