Foreign students banned from part-time factory jobs

By Park Si-soo

Foreign students here are banned from taking part-time jobs at manufacturing facilities.

The Ministry of Justice announced the policy on Thursday, saying it is to fix the “destabilized” job market in the manufacturing industry. It did not elaborate.

The ban applies to all foreign students on undergraduate, graduate and language courses at domestic universities.

Companies that provide manufacturing and other services together are obliged to submit a written promise to authorities that they won’t put foreign students in a manufacturing job.

As of August 31, 136,234 foreign students were studying in South Korea, up 15.9 percent from last year.