Go to Korea to work in fishing

After nearly 20 years of sending workers to Korea to work in the fishing industry under the Employment Permit Program for Foreign Workers (EPS), hundreds of workers in coastal localities in Quang Tri province have found jobs with stable incomes.

Officials from the Provincial Employment Service Center guide workers to register their application to work in Korea in the first phase of the 2024 fisheries and agriculture sector - Photo: TN

Mr. Nguyen Cong Dong (born in 1982) in Xuan Tien village, Gio Viet commune, Gio Linh district, passed the fishing profession exam under a labor contract in Korea in 2010. Mr. Dong is currently living in Mokpo city, Jeollanam-do province. His monthly income is about 5 million Won (about 90 million VND), of which the basic salary is 2.5 million Won/month, the remaining amount is negotiated with the ship owner depending on his ability, experience, and productivity.

In addition to the high income, with 14 years of experience at sea and a dedicated and responsible working attitude, Mr. Dong was sponsored by the ship owner to stay legally in Korea under the E7 visa. With this visa, he was extended once every 2 years by the ship owner, so he stayed legally in Korea to work and could bring his relatives to visit every year. Recently, Mr. Dong brought his eldest daughter to study a profession in this country.

Mr. Dong said that he used to work for offshore fishing vessels, so when he came to Korea, he had many advantages in his work. At first, he worked for nearshore fishing vessels to get used to the work. After 2 years, he switched to working for offshore fishing vessels with the profession of catching croaker and white pomfret. Currently, Mr. Dong is working on a fishing vessel of more than 300 CV. The vessel has 10 crew members, including 2 Vietnamese workers, him and 1 person from Ha Tinh, the remaining members are Korean and Indonesian. On average, the vessel makes 2 sea trips per month.

The seafaring profession here is convenient because there are machines to support the heavy work, so it is less difficult than the seafaring profession in the countryside. “Here, each crew member is assigned a specific job, each person has a specific job. For example, someone stands on the machine to control the net, someone sets the buoy, pulls the lead rope, someone removes the fish from the net, someone washes the fish, someone takes the fish down to the storage tank...

When working, the departments operate like an industrial chain. Whoever is in charge of what does what in the right position, very orderly and disciplined, so work efficiency is high and labor is saved," Mr. Dong shared.

In Quang Tri, the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs assigned the Quang Tri Employment Service Center as the only unit to receive and guide the registration process for working in Korea under the EPS program. In May 2005, the Provincial Employment Service Center began sending workers to work in Korea in the fishing industry, mainly under the EPS program.

This is one of the industries that many workers in the province choose to register to participate in because the cost is relatively low, ranging from 30 - 40 million VND (in addition, before leaving the country, a deposit of 100 million VND is made to prevent illegal labor, this amount will be refunded to the worker, both principal and interest, when the labor term expires and the worker returns to the country); the income is quite high (minimum over 37 million VND/person/month). Up to now, the whole province has 745/2,805 workers who have gone to Korea to work in the fishing industry. In 2024 alone, the whole province has 438 workers registered to take the exam for this profession, so far 210 have passed the exam, of which 30 workers have gone abroad.

To widely disseminate this program, the Provincial Employment Service Center has recently focused on promoting and disseminating it to workers, especially workers in coastal areas. The content and forms of propaganda are increasingly diverse and rich, helping people easily learn and access information.

In addition to local job consultation conferences, the center has assigned local staff to go to households to mobilize, propagate and provide direct guidance to workers. The center also coordinates with the provincial Social Policy Bank to publicize the regimes, policies and procedures for workers who need to borrow capital to work abroad. At the same time, it implements the loan support policy for workers working abroad who are eligible for support according to regulations.

According to the Provincial Employment Service Center, despite positive results, the current difficulty is that most of the workers in the province who go to work in Korea under the EPS program are unskilled workers, many of whom have limited skills, communication skills and foreign languages.

That is why when working in Korea, some people encounter difficulties due to language barriers; they cannot determine the specifics of the job, especially workers participating in activities at sea because this job requires good health and diligence.

This is the main reason why some people get discouraged, run away to do other jobs, and become illegal residents. Therefore, in addition to disseminating information and creating favorable conditions for workers in the province to access job opportunities under the EPS program, the center focuses on raising awareness for workers to minimize violations of the law, violations of contracts, and illegal residence.

At the same time, it is necessary to focus on organizing Korean language training to equip workers with foreign language skills. In addition to propaganda, it is also necessary to resolutely implement administrative sanctions against workers who go to work abroad and violate the contract (reside illegally after the contract expires) according to Decree 12/2022/ND-CP. To effectively carry out propaganda and sanctions, there must be coordination and a sense of responsibility in the management of localities with workers going to work abroad.

Thuy Ngoc

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/di-han-quoc-lam-ngu-nghiep-190072.htm