The government of the Republic of Korea has recently decided to resume the entry of Bangladeshi expatriate workers to the country which has been suspended since June last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation.

South Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun informed the decision to Expatriate’s Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed during his meeting with the Minister at his office on Tuesday.

Ambassador Lee also requested the Bangladesh Government to take necessary steps to ensure that no COVID-19 positive case is found among the Bangladesh expatriate workers coming to Korea by taking necessary preventive measures before, during and after their travel and their full vaccination.

Also read: Bangladesh an attractive investment destination: Korean envoy

Minister Imran, expressing deep appreciation to the decision of the Korean Government, assured of full cooperation with the Korean authorities for a smooth and successful resumption of Bangladesh expatriate workers’ entry and re-entry to Korea.

The Korean government has been admitting foreign expatriate workers from 16 countries including Bangladesh under the Employment Permit System (EPS) since 2004 and annually between 2000-3000 Bangladesh have been benefited under this program.

Currently the number of Bangladesh workers staying in Korea under this system is around 7,500 which used to be over 10,000 before the pandemic.

Also read: S Korea for diversifying areas of cooperation, elevating ties with Bangladesh

During the 2020-21 fiscal year the amount of the remittance by Bangladesh expatriates in Korea recorded historic high with 209 million US dollars which made Korea the 13th major remittance source country for Bangladesh.