Foreign Industrial Trainees, `1 Year Training + 2 Years Working`

The government decided on 20th to extend the working period of foreign trainees from current `2 year training + 1 year working` to `1 year training + 2 year working` which is designed to keep the industrial trainees from leaving their designated workplace and to solve the low payment.

In the Foreign Industrial Trainee Policy Deliberation Meeting by Kim Ho-Sik, the head of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the government decided to select the trainees who passed the exam for Korean language.

The test of Korean language skill aims to decrease the language problem and to increase the chance of selection for Koreans abroad including Korean Chinese and Koreans in Russia.

And the government decided to increase the quota for trainee selection from the current 83,800 (minor manufacturing industry 80,000, constructing 2,500, coastal fishery 1300) to 85,500, which is slightly increased only in coastal fishery by 1,700 persons.

And the retirement insurance money and a fixed amount of deposit will be set aside every month and will be allowed to withdraw it when they return to their country, which is to prevent the trainees from deserting the working places. And the number of fleeting trainees shall be subtracted from the foreign employment quota of each country.

In order to root out the irregularities in selecting foreign trainees, the government will change the selection system. Previously, the local employment agencies in each country entirely took charges on it, but computer will select the trainees from the list recommended by the agencies from now on.

And to protect the human rights of trainees from physical abuse, delayed payment, verbal assault, etc., the government will hold a field investigation within 7 days after receiving a violation notification of the human rights. And if the case is not solved, the government will transmit it to Korean Human Rights Commission, and will not allocate trainees to the companies that committed violence.

The government has selected trainees from 14 countries including China, Vietnam, Mongolia, by now. In November, 49,000(19.6 percent) out of the 250,000 illegal foreigners in Korea were industrial trainees who left their work places.

Chol-Hi Lee klimt@donga.com