This year, the authorities of South Korea are going to issue a record number of visas to qualified specialists from other countries. The criteria for obtaining visas are also planned to be softened.

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon announced a fifteen-fold (1) increase in the annual quota to 30,000 people. In comparison, in 2017, the annual quota for the E-7-4 visa program was only 300 people, increasing to 2,000 last year.

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The purpose of such measures is to help companies overcome labor shortages, especially in manufacturing and agriculture. The fact is that the birth rate in South Korea is declining, so it is not possible to close vacancies in the country using your own forces.

For reference. In 1990, 49,000 people lived in the country permanently, and by the end of 2019 that number, including those who stay less than three months, had risen to 2.52 million people. That's more than 4.9 percent of the country's population of nearly 51 million people. At the same time, almost 40 percent of foreigners in Korea are Chinese citizens.