South Korea's new visa to resolve labour shortage faces backlash

A visa system introduced this month to address labour shortages in regions outside Seoul is facing strong backlash, with concerns that the influx of migrant workers could threaten jobs for Korean citizens.
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A petition calling for the abolition of the E-7-4R visa garnered more than 72,700 signatures as of Thursday after being posted on the National Assembly's petition site on March 20. The request is currently under parliamentary review, as required for all petitions that collect 50,000 signatures or more.
Also known as the region-specific skilled worker visa, E-7-4R is designed for foreign nationals who have been working in government-designated regions where the issue of falling populations is particularly serious, according to the Ministry of Justice.
If E-9 and E-10 visa holders stay in one of the designated areas for at least two years and meet certain skill requirements, they will become eligible to change their visas to E-7-4R, which would allow for a longer stay, the possibility of inviting family members and potentially an easier path to permanent residency.
South Korean dealers work at Hana Bank in Seoul. Photo: EPA-EFE
The petitioner, surnamed Nam, urged ministry officials to reconsider the policy, saying it could worsen the job situation for many struggling citizens, especially young ones. 'Improving the treatment of Korean citizens and creating stable jobs for them should be a priority before bringing in more foreign labour,' he said.
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'The E74R visa would greatly expand the influx of foreign workers into the country. This is likely to result in job losses for many already struggling Korean workers, particularly in small and medium-sized businesses and in the manufacturing and service industries, where increased competition could lead to job losses and lower wages.'

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Asia Times

2 hours ago

• Asia Times

Seoul's Lee and Tokyo's Ishiba off to a surprisingly warm start

Attendees at a reception last week by the South Korean Embassy at Tokyo's New Otani Hotel, held to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Japan, were pleasantly surprised when Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba showed up to deliver a warm address. He was followed by former prime ministers Fumio Kishida and Yoshihide Suga and accompanied by a host of Japanese dignitaries. The celebratory mood reflected the view in Japan following the meeting between newly elected South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Minister Ishiba at the Group of Seven (G7) Summit. That meeting was marked by not only cordiality but also a clear mutual desire to tighten cooperation. Unspoken, but implicit, was the shared interest that both leaders have in countering the growing chaos in global affairs, from trade wars to actual wars, and their growing sense that the South Korea-Japan partnership is an effective response to the advent of Donald Trump's America-First regime. 'We have an inseparable relationship, like neighbors who share the same garden,' Lee said. 'Even if we have small differences of opinion, I hope we can develop a relationship in which we cooperate and help each other in various areas.' While the two governments continue to voice support for trilateral cooperation with the United States, it was evident that the real emphasis of their meeting was on bilateral links. 'With difficulties intensifying in terms of the international trade environment and international relations, South Korea and Japan can be of great help to one another when they cooperate in many areas in a relationship that is both close and complementary.' Lee reportedly said at the summit meeting. Contrary to some expectations, Lee went out of his way to dispel the idea that he is bound to a hostile view toward Japan. He emphasized building a stable and respectful relationship as the two countries neared the sixtieth anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations on June 22. Lee has by no means abandoned a critical view of Japan's colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula and the ongoing problems of apology and compensation for abuses, including sexual slavery and forced labor. 'We cannot dwell on the past,' Lee said in an interview with Time Magazine before the presidential election. 'But Japan continues to deny its history and does not sincerely apologize, which hurts us Koreans.' But Lee also called for separating those issues from the need for cooperation, particularly in dealing with common issues such as trade wars and challenges from China, Russia, and even North Korea. This 'two-track' approach is reminiscent of the progressive Roh Moo-hyun administration from 2003 to 2008. President Roh proclaimed a commitment to a pragmatic handling of ties with Japan while retaining a critical view of Japan's past. Former Korean Ambassador to Japan Shin Kak-soo hinted he was cautiously optimistic about the new South Korean president's initial approach. 'For the time being, it is true that the Lee Jae Myung government has shifted gear in handling the thorny bilateral ties with Tokyo drastically, given his past record of words and deeds that had been strongly anti-Japanese,' he told this writer in an email. 'I hope that he and his administration will keep this path for a long time.' This mirrors the view in Japan, where cautious optimism is widely shared – particularly in official circles. 'Lee has made an amiable debut in Japanese eyes that contradicts prior expectations,' a veteran Japanese journalist for the liberal Asahi Shimbun , with deep experience in foreign affairs, told this writer. As he recounted, officials in the prime minister's office told Japanese journalists that they were pleasantly surprised by Lee's behavior during his first meeting with Ishiba, including the wide smile that Lee flashed in official photos. 'They took it a sign that the Korean general sentiment to Japan has improved so much as to let Lee feel safe performing diplomatically in public with a Japanese leader,' the Asahi journalist said. 'There is a little bit of wishful assessment probably, but I sense that Lee's slogan 'pragmatic diplomacy' started well.' According to this analysis, what happened in Canada was assisted by Trump and his rather abrupt and rude departure from the summit. 'In that sense, as a short-term effect, Trump's arrogance resulted in bringing about a favorable mood between South Korea and Japan,' the Japanese diplomatic correspondent told this author. 'Trump's arrogance resulted in bringing about a favorable mood between South Korea and Japan.' a japanese diplomatic correspondent Along with the Trump effect, there is evidence of a growing convergence of public opinion in both countries, particularly due to the perception of shared external threat from China, North Korea, and Russia. A recent joint poll by Japan's Asahi Shimbun and South Korea's Dong A Ilbo showed support for strengthening defense cooperation in both countries. Compared with a similar poll conducted at the time of the fiftieth anniversary, there was a clear upswing in positive views of each other, reflecting growing cultural, economic, and other ties – a product in part of the massive flow of tourists between the two countries and the impact of the popular Korean wave in Japan. Still, South Korean and Japanese citizens remain far apart on certain issues. In the joint poll, respondents were asked about historical issues arising out of Japan's colonization of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. In Japan, opinions were evenly split: 46% of respondents said the issues had been 'resolved,' while the same percentage of respondents said they had 'not been resolved.' In contrast, only 17% of Koreans said the issues had been 'resolved,' still up from 2% a decade ago, while 80% said they had 'not been resolved,' a slight drop from 95% in the previous poll. The Roh Moo-hyun presidency offers grounds for caution about the future course of the relationship. Roh began his term with similar goals of separating history from future relations, while simultaneously insisting that Japan confront its past. But within a year, a series of issues sent the relationship spiraling into deep discord, including conflicts over the competing territorial claims, Japanese textbook revisions, and the Japanese prime minister's continued visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine. Lee Jong-seok, who served as Roh's national security advisor and has returned as head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) under Lee, recounted this spiral in his memoir. 'Throughout its tenure, the administration could not find a point of diplomatic balance with Japan over the history issue. Each time history became a topic, ROK-Japanese relations lurched,' Lee Jong-seok wrote. 'We are still living in a time when all our citizens are victims of the Japanese empire.' He added: 'There was no room for future-oriented ROK policy toward Japan as long as Japan constantly tried to legitimize its history of aggression.' That danger could easily resurface, argues Ambassador Shin, who remains an active player in 1.5-track diplomacy between the two countries. 'We should not forget that there lurk many diverse landmines ahead in our sensitive bilateral ties,' Shin told this writer. 'President Lee should not repeat President Roh's mistake that he vowed not to raise history issues at his inauguration, but made an about-face abruptly in his mid-term.' Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba also has work to do to avoid this outcome. This includes gestures and steps to reassure South Koreans that he is also ready to face the past. He could use the upcoming anniversaries, such as the eightieth anniversary of the end of World War II, and strongly restate Japan's apologies to urging Japanese companies to contribute to the South Korean fund to compensate wartime forced laborers. For that, Ishiba must deal with his own domestic political challenges – a right-wing faction of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party that opposes such moves and his own weak minority government facing a crucial test in elections for the upper house of the National Diet in July. 'Ishiba has signaled an interest in a more constructive relationship with South Korea in the past, based on a more forthright reckoning with Imperial Japan's conduct on the Korean peninsula,' observes Tobias Harris, founder of the political risk firm Japan Foresight. 'But the LDP's right wing still makes it difficult to be overly solicitous of South Korea without facing domestic resistance.' Harris adds: 'While a victory in the upper house elections will not make this resistance disappear, it may give him more space to express his own views – in remarks on the anniversary of the end of the war, for example. In general, other things being equal, if Ishiba can hold power instead of a more right-wing alternative, it's positive for the bilateral relationship.' Ultimately, external events may shape whether relations deepen or fray. From North Korean belligerence to Trumpist isolationism and chaos, developments beyond South Korea and Japan are likely to continue driving the two neighbors closer together, whether they like it or not. Daniel C. Sneider is a non-resident Distinguished Fellow at the Korea Economic Institute of America and a lecturer in East Asian Studies at Stanford University. This article was originally published by The Peninsula, the newsletter of the Korea Economic Institute of America. It is republished here with permission.

Asia Times

4 hours ago

• Asia Times

The US attack on Iran and the collapse of negotiations

President Donald Trump's decision to launch attacks on three of Iran's major nuclear enrichment sites took place after negotiations in Geneva collapsed. Iran's foreign minister met with the foreign ministers of Germany, Britain and France, known as the E3, plus the EU. The E-3 and EU group pressed the Iranians to engage in negotiations with the United States. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi said Iran would only consider talks of some kind (not with the United States) after Israel halted its attacks on Iran and was punished. The E-3 tried to sell Araghchi and the Iranians on a formula, not supported by Washington, that would impose strict nuclear inspections and other similar measures as a 'solution' to the impasse, disregarding Trump's policy of no enrichment of uranium by Iran. Araghchi wasn't buying the European suggestions. Behind the scenes there were a number of attempts to broker deals, the Geneva meeting the last in a line of contacts. All the various initiatives were blocked by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. This image grabbed from a United Nations video shows Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addressing the 59th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on June 20, 2025. Top European diplomats are meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on June 20 to discuss Iran's nuclear program. The US attack on Iran's nuclear facilities featured some 75 precision weapons including 14 GBU-57 bunker busters, 30,000-pound dual warhead weapons dropped by B-2 stealth bombers. Twelve GBUs were used against Fordow, two on the nuclear site at Isfahan. The B-2's flew directly from the United States and were refueled several times enroute to their targets. The US also deployed fourth and fifth generation fighter jets, likely from Prince Sultan Airbase in Saudi Arabia, although that is unconfirmed. A US submarine, probably Ohio class, located some 400 miles from Iran, launched 30 TLAM (Tomahawk Land Attack) cruise missiles aimed at Natanz and Isfahan. Other targets may also have been involved, but that information has not been disclosed. A B-2 bomber releasing a GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb. The US aircraft were not attacked by any Iranian air defenses, suggesting that most of these had previously been neutralized by Israel's Air Force. An IDF infographic indicating the layout of Iran's Natanz nuclear facility, June 13, 2025. China deployed two surveillance ships, numbers 855 and 815A, apparently to provide early warning to Iran and to try and jam Israeli air attacks. These same ships, it appears, were unsuccessful in detecting the US attack, either because they were jammed or because they never saw the B-2 bombers and other stealth aircraft such as the F-22 or F-35. Even if the Chinese were able to pass warnings to Iran, Israel had already destroyed most of Iran's air force and other air defenses. Reportedly, China also was shipping supplies into Iran and evacuating Chinese citizens. One of the Chinese surveillance and radar ships. The US operation, called Midnight Hammer, was coordinated with Israel and managed by CENTCOM. President Trump, speaking a few minutes after 10pm from the White House said that Iran should now make peace, but if it did not, there were plenty of targets in Iran that were far easier than Fordow, Isfahan or Natanz. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, speaking at an early Sunday morning news conference at the Pentagon, said, 'I can only confirm that there are both public and private messages being directly delivered to the Iranians in multiple channels, giving them every opportunity to come to the table. They understand precisely what the American position is, precisely what steps they can take to allow for peace, and we hope they do so.' Reportedly Iran's foreign minister is traveling to Moscow to coordinate with Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin had sought a mediation role between Iran and the United States. For Putin the main focus is on Ukraine, where Russia is making significant breakthroughs, especially in areas that apparently are outside of the stated territorial goals of Russia's 'special military operation.' Russian support for Iran, if Russia actively challenged the United States, could force a turnaround in how the US views Russia in strategic terms. Putin likely will not want to see any change that would induce the United States to commit airpower to defend Ukraine and, by extension, risk a wider European conflict. Therefore, it is unlikely that Russia will take any action that would undermine the 'warming trend' with the United States. Russia's ability to influence Khamenei and the Mullahs, or for that matter Iran's Revolutionary Guards, to make a deal with the United States, is highly limited. At present any chance for Iran to change course and to consider a diplomatic solution that would definitively end Iran's nuclear program seems unlikely, considering Iran's current power structure. The US insists it is not promoting regime change in Iran, but that policy could very well change if there continues to be no progress in resolving the nuclear issue. Reportedly President Trump's envoy, Richard Grenell has asked Elon Musk to provide Starlink terminals to 'our friends' in Iran, a strong hint that the US is getting ready to support efforts to overthrow the Khamenei regime. Meanwhile hardliners in Iran are calling for Iran's navy to block the Straits of Hormuz, effectively ending oil exports through the Persian Gulf. Iran has a small navy and some submarines, including fairly quiet but older Kilo-class submarines. The idea that Iran could stop commercial traffic under current circumstances may be wishful thinking, considering the naval and air power put in place by the United States. Similarly, there is a Houthi threat to stop commercial traffic in the Red Sea, but Houthi capabilities have already been reduced and Iran is no longer in a position to resupply the Houthis with missiles and drones. A Russian-built, Kilo-class diesel submarine recently purchased by Iran, is towed by a support vessel in this photograph taken in the central Mediterranean Sea during the week of December 23. The submarine and the support ship arrived at Port Said, Egypt, on Tuesday and were expected to begin transiting the Suez Canal today, Jan. 2, 1996. Ships and aircraft from the US Navy's Sixth Fleet are tracking the submarine, which has been making the transit on the surface. This is the third Kilo-class submarine the Iranians have purchased from Moscow. Meanwhile the Iranian government has lost face at home. Suppressing the Internet and other steps won't stop the flow of information outside of regime control. The possibility of an internal upheaval cannot be discounted. Whether it will materialize remains to be seen.

South China Morning Post

14-06-2025

• South China Morning Post

Lee Jae-myung's debut at G7 summit shows ‘South Korea is back in the game'

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung 's attendance at the Group of Seven summit signals that the country is 'back in the game', according to analysts, as the move allows Seoul to press ahead with its long-term goal of becoming a member of an expanded G7. Sworn in as his country's new president last Wednesday, Lee would attend the three-day G7 summit to be held in Canada from Sunday, the presidential office said on Saturday. This would mark his first overseas trip since he took office and his debut on the global diplomatic stage, following his election earlier this month, brought on by the impeachment of former president Yoon Suk-yeol Yoon was impeached by the National Assembly after declaring martial law in December. The constitutional court upheld the verdict in a unanimous decision in April, removing him from office. South Korea is not a G7 member state but had been invited to the expanded G7 sessions in 2021 and 2023, when Britain and Japan were the respective hosts.