ED New internship visa

Time to do more to attract and keep talented foreign nationals

The Ministry of Justice has introduced a new visa that allows students from outstanding overseas universities to work as interns at high-tech companies and research institutes here. The “high-tech internship visa” (D-10-3) went into effect Monday to help strengthen corporate competitiveness by attracting talented people from abroad.

The D-10-3 visa will be issued to those who currently major in high-tech fields at the world's 200 best universities selected by Times Higher Education or at the top 500 universities included in the QS World University Rankings. Those who have graduated from the top global universities within three years are also eligible for the visa.

High-tech areas that qualify for the visa include semiconductors, information technology, nano, bio and new materials. However, to prevent any adverse effects on job openings for Korean nationals, foreign interns cannot exceed 20 percent of a company's workforce.

The new visa program is long overdue, considering that securing talent is the key to boosting the country's competitiveness. Nurturing our domestic workforce is most desirable, but it's practically impossible to foster top-level personnel in a short period of time. Given that the nation has lagged behind other advanced countries in attracting well-qualified human resources from abroad so far, the justice ministry should do whatever it can to make the new visa program successful so that more capable students of foreign nationality can work and live here.

More importantly, the government's plans for human resources need to be diversified. For example, more strenuous efforts are needed to attract qualified overseas Koreans and their children. They usually have a higher degree of understanding about Korean culture, so they will feel attracted to return to Korea more easily. Foreign nationals residing here also can be the target of our drive to attract “brain power.” A survey conducted by the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education & Training found that only 42 percent of foreign students who obtained doctoral degrees here between 2017 and 2019 were hired in Korea. It's urgent to seek ways to expand employment opportunities for them.