By Park Si-soo

The government has pushed for a plan to introduce a “scoring system” for foreigners with special skills and allot benefits accordingly.

Once the new scheme is approved, foreigners will be evaluated on the basis of age, academic background and professional licenses when they enter the country and get a job here. They will be given opportunities, accordingly.

In its report on immigration policies based on an analysis of advanced economies such as the United States, Germany, Japan, and France, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Sunday, “We should take the upper hand in the global competition to attract as many elite foreigners as possible by providing proven candidates with a variety of advantages,” the ministry said.

“An effective way (to reach the goal) may be scoring them based on their capabilities and to treat them differently in immigration, employment and other administrative affairs.”

Among the indicators for assessment are age, academic background, and certified licenses among others, it said.

The ministry said those with ample knowledge and experience about an industry that is suffering from a workforce shortage should be given better treatment. The scoring system has been employed by the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, the U.S., Australia and Japan, it added.

“We need to streamline the immigration checkup process for them and, if necessary, establish checkpoints open exclusively to them,” the ministry said. “Their family members should be given favors in employment and other affairs as well.”

The ministry said the government should increase the number of foreign students benefiting from state-funded scholarship programs, portraying it as a cost-effective way to make elite foreigners settle down in Korea.

Kim Jae-hwan, a finance ministry official familiar with the issue, said the report suggests the direction in which the country’s immigration policies should move and they would take shape after discussions with the Ministry of Justice which is in charge of immigration policy.

The Korean government has stepped up efforts to have as large an elite foreign workforce as possible in domestic industries.

In January, the justice ministry unveiled a broad picture of immigration policies for this year that was centered on revamping the immigration system to attract elite foreigners into Korea and letting them stay here permanently.

The ministry also called for tough measures against racial discrimination.

Citing laws in the U.S., Australia, Germany and France, it warned that racial discrimination is deeply rooted among Koreans who have long believed they are racially homogenous and it will serve as a stumbling block biting into the country’s international competitiveness.