Diplomatic Correspondent: A total of 248 Bangladesh expatriate workers left for South Korea from Bangladesh through a chartered flight from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport yesterday.

It is the biggest number of the workers left for South Korea in a day so far, said the Embassy in a media release.

South Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun said as many as 5,200 Bangladesh workers are expected to have gone to Korea by the end of this year.

Until November 1 this year, 3,986 Bangladesh expatriate workers were admitted to Korea which is the largest number since the start of Korea’s Employment Permit System (EPS) in 2008 through which the Korean Government recruits low and medium-skilled foreign workers.

Among the departed workers today, a female worker Champa, who would work at a manufacturing factory in Gyeonggi Province for the next four years and ten months, said she does not expect difficulties in Korea as the company would provide food and shelter. Her mother will raise her 10-month-old daughter while she works in Korea.

Another female worker Tithee, who will work at the same company, said her dream is to set up a diagnostic center in Bangladesh.

Kim Dong-chan of the EPS Center in Dhaka hoped to see more Bangladesh women take the Korean language competency test which is the requirement for the EPS opportunities in Korea, saying that female workers in factories in Korea could get the same level of salary as male workers.

Before today, the largest number of Bangladesh EPS workers went to Korea through the EPS was in 2010 with 2,691.

With the improvement of the COVID-19 situation both in Korea and Bangladesh on average 113 workers were admitted to Korea every week since April this year.

However, from November on the average weekly number of workers going to Korea is to increase to 150. Besides, an additional 100 workers will be added every other week.

Ambassador Lee said that weekly around 150 Bangladesh workers are likely to be admitted to Korea in 2023.

The EPS quota for Bangladesh is expected to increase next year as many Korean employers are satisfied with the Bangladesh workers recognizing their diligence and faithfulness, he added.

The Korean language test for the 20,000 candidate workers selected through a lottery in September will begin at the end of January 2023.

EPS is an employment system to recruit low and medium-skilled foreign workers from 16 countries including Bangladesh. Those who are below 39 years old and qualified from the Korean language proficiency test can apply for this program.

However, those who have criminal history or health problems can be limited.

Korea has established various protective measures for foreign workers such as the prohibition of discrimination including the salary, equal application of labour laws, subscription of four social insurances which was highly recognized by the UN in 2011 giving UN Public Administration Award.