Immigration overhaul: Seoul targets high-tech talent amid aging population
South Korea will expand the scope of "top-tier visas" for high-tech foreign talent and create a new visa program for foreign technicians to address the low birth rate and aging population, the Ministry of Justice said Tuesday, Yonhap reports.
Minister of Justice Jung Sung-ho held a press briefing to announce the new visa measures to be pushed as part of the nation's immigration policy strategy for the 2030s.
The top-tier visa issuance is now limited to personnel from companies in eight cutting-edge industries, including semiconductors, artificial intelligence and robotics.
But the scope of the top-tier visas will be expanded to include professors and researchers in the science and technology fields, the ministry said.
The ministry also said it will create the "K-Core visa" to enable domestic technical colleges to systematically foster foreign talent with intermediate technical skills, thereby alleviating the labor shortage in the local manufacturing industry.
The government will provide foreigners with information on employment and entrepreneurship in depopulation regions and establish a regional immigration package program that contains comprehensive support, such as social integration education and child care, the ministry noted.
A pilot program will be introduced to help regional small businesses hire foreigners, and a new visa program for skilled agricultural and fishery workers will encourage their long-term employment in those fields, it said.
Earlier, it was reported that Great Britain ranks first in the world for immigration concern.