Kathmandu, July 26

As many as 3,517 Nepali youths aspiring for foreign jobs have passed the Korean Language Test (KLT) under the Employment Permit System (EPS) of South Korean government.

The results of the KLT, which was held on June 18 and 19, were published today.

Among the candidates who passed the KLT, 2,140 have been selected for agriculture and livestock sector, while 1,377 for manufacturing sector, said Dilli Ram Bastola, director of the EPS Section under the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE).

Of the passed candidates, 3,183 are male and 334 are female.

According to Bastola, the process for conducting health tests and other official procedures for the successful candidates will begin from the third week of September.

“Candidates selected from the KLT meet the basic requirement to apply for jobs in Korea. Only the candidates in good health and who have not been involved in any criminal offences are eligible to apply for jobs,” said Bastola.

“The selection process for the demand of 2017 will begin from February.”

Bastola informed that there is a demand for 6,000 Nepali workers in Korea for 2017. Of the said demand, 4,200 are in the manufacturing sector and rest in agriculture and livestock farming, among others. Once a candidate clears the KLT, he or she will be able to apply for a job in South Korea for two years.

The Human Resource Development Service (HRDS) of Korea develops a roster of those who clear KLT and provides them with an opportunity to apply for jobs in Korea. The validity of KLT is only for two years and around 100 candidates who had cleared their KLT in 2014 are yet to get job opportunity in Korea.

The candidates that have passed this year’s KLT will be eligible to apply for jobs in South Korea until 2018. The HRDS will unveil the job forecast for 2018 in the month of November this year.

The seventh series of KLT was held in Kathmandu and Pokhara, attracting more than 57,000 applicants aged between 18 and 35 year, this year.

The language proficiency test is a must for Nepali workers aspiring to go to South Korea for employment opportunities.

EPS Korea is a government-to-government (G2G) initiative between the two countries, which was signed on July 23, 2007, and Nepal started sending workers to South Korea from August of 2008.

Altogether, 35,700 Nepalis have had an opportunity to work in Korea since then.

Once selected for a job, the South Korean government extends permit for four years. According to EPS Section, around 5,000 labour migrants have returned from Korea after completing their tenure.

Normally fresh workers in Korea get job opportunity in the manufacturing, agriculture and livestock sectors.

However, those who have worked in Korea legally for three years can apply for computer-based test (CBT), and those who clear the CBT are eligible to work in service and construction sectors as well. But in recent years, Korean government started prioritising CBT for manufacturing jobs as well.

The basic monthly salary of Nepali workers in Korea is 1,236,000 won (around $1,075).