KATHMANDU: As many as 3517 Nepali youth, aspiring for foreign job, have passed the Korean Language Test (KLT) under the Employment Permit System (EPS) of South Korean government.

The results of KLT, carried out on June 18 and 19, were published today.

Among the successful candidates, 2,140 have been selected for agriculture and husbandry sector and the rest 1,377 for manufacturing sector, said Dilli Ram Bastola, Director of the EPS Section Nepal.

As many as 334 women are among those who passed the language proficiency test.

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

The seventh series of KLT was held in Kathmandu and Pokhara with more than 60,000 applicants, aged 18 to 35, this year.

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

Around 6000 workers had left for South Korea under the EPS last year. Currently, more than 34,000 Nepalis are working in South Korea.

EPS Korea is the government-to-government (G2G) initiative between the two countries, which was signed on 23 July, 2007 and Nepal started sending workers to Korea from August 2008. Altogether, 35,700 Nepalis have had an opportunity to work in Korea since then.

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