Seoul tightens migrant language screening over safety concerns

South Korea is tightening Korean-language screening for incoming migrant workers under its Employment Permit System, placing greater emphasis on speaking skills amid concerns that language barriers can contribute to worksite accidents and hinder communication at factories, farms and construction sites that increasingly rely on foreign labour.The Human Resources Development Service of Korea, a public agency under the Ministry of Employment and Labour, announced on Monday that it would revise the interview and skill test used in the points-based selection process for E-9 visa workers.The changes follow the agency’s recent study of employers’ views on the Korean-language proficiency of their E-9 workers.The survey found that nearly half of employers were dissatisfied with the Korean language abilities of their workers, citing particular difficulties in their ability to understand work instructions (48.9 per cent) and safety rules (37.6 per cent).Growing concern over industrial accidents involving foreign workers is driving the shift.Although they make up only about 3.4 per cent of the workforce, foreign workers accounted for 9.2 per cent of fatal industrial accidents in 2022, 10.4 per cent in 2023 and 11.8 per cent in the first half of 2024 – a pattern that prompted the National Human Rights Commission of Korea to call for corrective action last year.