Kathmandu, April 2

Altogether 82,264 job aspirants have submitted online application forms for the Korean Language Test (KLT) under the Employment Permit System of the Korean government this year.

The Korean government is holding the KLT in Kathmandu and Pokhara on June 9 and 10.

The EPS Korea Section, under the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), had accepted online forms from Nepalis eyeing jobs in South Korea between March 22 and 31.

Officials at EPS Korea Section said that the number of applicants for KLT has shot up after the government started online form collection from last year. Altogether 75,000 job aspirants had submitted their applicants for KLT in 2017. Similarly, the number of applicants for the test in 2016 stood at 61,637.

Earlier, Korean government had said that it would employ 7,100 Nepali workers in Korea in 2019, of whom 4,800 would get jobs in the production sector alone. The labour demand from South Korea was 10,200 in 2018 and 3,100 in 2017.

“Along with the increasing craze for South Korean jobs among Nepali workers, the South Korean government has been increasing labour demand from Nepal in the recent years,” said an official at the EPS Korea Section.

Of the total applicants for KLT this year, EPS Korea Section said that 39,640 (30,179 males and 9,461 females) have applied for jobs in agriculture sector and 42,624 (39,208 males and 3,416 females) have applied for jobs in production sector.

Of the total applicants, 12,000 can give KLT from Pokhara, while the remaining applicants will have to appear for the test from Kathmandu.

This is the ninth series of KLT and those selected from the KLT meet the basic requirement to apply for jobs in South Korea. According to EPS Korea Section, the validity of KLT will be for two years, which means that those who pass KLT cannot apply for jobs in South Korea after two years.

The basic monthly salary of a Nepali worker in South Korea is 1,236,000 won (around $1,075). According to EPS Korea Section, over 50,000 Nepali workers have received opportunities to work in South Korea under the EPS and thousands of them have already returned to Nepal after completing their 58-month job placement in the country.