RoK waives quarantine, extends labour contracts for Vietnamese workers

The RoK Government recently removed Vietnam, along with Myanmar and Ukraine, from the list of countries subject to tightened COVID-19 control measures.

Accordingly, from April 1, Vietnamese workers entering the RoK continue to be exempted from seven-day quarantine if they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Apart from vaccination certificates, they also need to have a certificate of negative COVID-19 test results prior to their departure and have their QR code checked when arriving in the RoK.

In addition, workers whose labour contracts expire from April 13 will have their contracts automatically extended.

This is the third consecutive extension since April 13, 2021, which is considered one of the solutions to the labour shortage in this Northeast Asian country amid serious impacts of the pandemic.

Talking to the Vietnam News Agency, Pham Minh Duc, head of the management office for Vietnamese workers under the RoK’s Employment Permit System (EPS) programme, said since the start of 2022, there are about 100 workers going to the RoK under the EPS programme every week, but they are subject to concentrated quarantine.

After the RoK Government decided to relax anti-pandemic rules for foreigners on April 1, the number of Vietnamese workers entering this country under the EPS programme is likely to surge in the time ahead, he noted.