'Thirsty' for labor, South Korea expands recruitment of Vietnamese students to study abroad

Due to a severe labor shortage, South Korea is attracting Vietnamese students to study engineering and nursing with many scholarships and settlement opportunities.

On October 31, the workshop "Studying and working in Korea in the digital age" was organized by the Southern Center for Education and Training Development - Office of the Ministry of Education and Training in coordination with An Duong Group (ADG).

Every 5 people will have 2 people over 65 years old.

Mr. Le Thang Loi, Director of the Southern Center for Education and Training Development (Ministry of Education and Training), said that the Korean economy is very developed but is facing a serious labor shortage. "Meanwhile, Vietnam is a country with an abundant labor force, young, hard-working, with the will to overcome difficulties and increasingly highly trained, with good working skills, ready to participate in the global labor market," Mr. Loi added.

At the workshop, Mr. Kim Dong Young, representative of the Korea University of Technology (TUK), said that Korea is facing a shortage of hundreds of thousands of high-quality workers in many fields, especially technology industries such as information technology, artificial intelligence (AI), smart manufacturing, mechanics, electronics, semiconductors, robots, etc.

Mr. Kim Dong Young said that Korean enterprises are in need of human resources in many fields.

PHOTO: KHÁNH NHI

Mr. Kim Sang Hyeon, representative of the Korean educational organization Vision Academy, said that the demand for international nurses in Korea is currently increasing sharply due to a serious shortage of human resources. "The reason is that Korea is facing the fastest aging population in Asia, leading to a serious shortage of nursing staff," Mr. Kim Sang Hyeon explained.

Nursing homes and rehabilitation centers in South Korea are short of tens of thousands of nurses. The turnover rate in the industry, especially in the field of elderly care, remains high, making the need for additional manpower increasingly urgent. It is expected that by 2030, 2 in 5 people will be over 65 and by 2035, there will be a shortage of 12,000 nurses in South Korea.

Relaxed nursing requirements

To solve the problem of human resource shortage, the Korean government has proposed many scholarships and support policies for international students, including Vietnamese students, to study and work in Korea.

Accordingly, the Korean Government will implement a policy of receiving and training international nurses from 2025 with the coordination of three key ministries: Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Health and Welfare.

In particular, the Ministry of Justice allows the transfer of D2-1/D2-2 student visas to E7-2 work visas for international nurses who have completed their training program. The Korean Ministry of Education will designate 24 colleges and universities nationwide to train nurses according to international standards. The Ministry of Health and Welfare will recruit and support foreign nurses, including settlement and career development support.

The requirements to become a nurse in Korea are as follows:

1. Application process: Submit application, comprehensively evaluate the candidate's ability and potential. Students will enroll with a D2 visa (visa for studying a specialized college or university)
2. Korean Language Preparation: Admission requirements require TOPIK 3 or higher. However, due to high demand for human resources, the TOPIK requirement may be relaxed to the elementary level (TOPIK 2) from 2026.
3. Intensive academic training: Intensive training program according to international standards, providing solid nursing knowledge at colleges and universities designated by the Korean Ministry of Education.
4. Clinical Practice: Clinical internship at top hospitals in Korea, prestigious rehabilitation facilities, to accumulate valuable practical experience
5. Ensure stable employment at reputable medical facilities after graduation: Students will be converted to E visa (official work visa E7-2) with competitive salary.

Mr. Hyeon added that students who are not confident in their Korean language skills can study in English. Students with an IELTS certificate of 5.5 or higher are fully qualified to study abroad and participate in training courses at colleges and universities in Korea.

Recruiting 200 Vietnamese students in engineering majors

Also at the workshop, Mr. Kim Dong Young informed that to solve the problem of human resource shortage, the Korean Ministry of Education has sponsored and assigned the Korea University of Technology (KUT) to implement a work-study scholarship project for Vietnamese students. The goal is to recruit 200 students for this project, studying at the Faculty of International Future Technology with 2 majors: system design (mechanical) and data and content (IT/SW).

Participating in the project, engineering students who achieve TOPIK 3 certification will receive a 50% tuition scholarship for the first semester. In addition, in the first year, students will receive a living allowance of 2 million won (equivalent to about 40 million VND). The scholarship level can increase to 70% if students meet the score requirements from semester 2 of year 1 to year 4.

Specifically, depending on the grade point average (GPA) of the previous semester, the tuition reduction ranges from 30% to 70%. Students with a GPA of 4.0 or higher receive 70% support, GPA of 3.5 or higher receive a 50% reduction, GPA of 3.0 or higher receive a 40% reduction, and GPA of 2.5 or higher receive a 30% reduction.

Mr. Kim Dong Young added that after graduation, the school will connect jobs at Korean enterprises. The starting salary is about 60 million VND/month. In addition, students can also return to Vietnam to work at Korean companies with branches in Vietnam, supported by the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (KoCham) to connect and introduce jobs.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/khat-lao-dong-han-quoc-mo-rong-tuyen-sinh-vien-viet-nam-du-hoc-185251031225103282.htm