The Ministry of Justice has raised the number of target areas eligible for region-specific visas and eased issuance rules to attract more foreign workers to depopulated regions. Shown is a foreign worker at a farm in Muju-gun County, Jeollabuk-do Province. (Muju County)

By Margareth Theresia 

The Ministry of Justice has raised the number of target areas for region-specific visas and eased issuance rules to attract foreign workers to regions with shrinking populations.

The ministry on Feb. 20 announced this as part of a two-year plan for such visas to run through next year.

The plan first raises the number of regions eligible for the visas from 89 last year to 107, with the additional 18 areas deemed to be in danger of depopulation.

The ministry abolished a public contest to select target areas for the visas and will instead assign the visas to 5,072 out of 5,156 applicants for the F-2-R (superior regional human resources) visa, by screening the business plans and previous year's results submitted by each local government.

A new visa type (E-7-4R) targets region-specific skilled workers with eased residency requirements, intended for holders of the E-9 (non-professional employee) and E-10 (vessel crew). Those who stay in the country for over two years and fulfill the requirements for the E-7-4 (skilled worker) can shift to the E-7-4R (region-specific skilled worker).

In addition, a new system allows holders of region-specific visas to upgrade their visa to the F-2-R (region-specific foreign talent) if they stay in a depopulated area or one in danger of decline for over three years. Accompanying family members can also work in simple labor fields in both types of regions.

Regulations on the issuance of the F-2-R have also been streamlined. The proficiency standard for Korean was raised from Level 3 of either the ministry's Immigration and Social Integration Network or the Test of Proficiency in Korean to Level 4 of the latter, a move intended to encourage highly skilled foreign workers fluent in Korean to settle in target regions.

Holders of region-specific visas can also work anywhere in a region with a decreasing population. The number of foreign staff was raised from a maximum of 20 people within the range of half of the number of domestic workers covered by employment insurance to up to 50 depending on the size of the business in the target area.

margareth@korea.kr