Korea urged to promote visas to attract foreign investment
Olivia Truesdale
By Olivia Truesdale
In order to capitalize on the opportunity of foreign assets prompting economic growth, Korea should explore promoting investment in the Korean economy through its trade and investment in D-7, D-8, and D-9 visas.
A 2019 OCED report highlights Korea's “openness and some high-visibility initiatives to subsidize top talent” but emphasizes the lack of proportionate success in maintaining the highly skilled foreigners that come to Korea, in addition to the fact that Korea itself has “no broad shortage of highly skilled workers.”
The competitive hiring and economic environment appear to be the key issue in maintaining a skilled foreign workforce.
As recently as September 2018 there were over 540,000 college graduates who were unable to find work after graduation, which accounts for a significant amount of Korea's unemployment rate according to a Korea Times report.
Korea's D-7, D-8, and D-9 visa classes are meant to draw foreigners for business purposes, similar to the United States E-2 visa, though its guidelines are vague, and the qualification requirements and application process for Korea's visas are hard to identify. The U.S. Department of State guidelines are clearer and more specific.
The U.S. Department of State's Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) describes E class visas as nonimmigrant visas that are meant for traders or investors to invest a non-marginal amount of capital into business infrastructure.
An essential qualification for E-2 treaty investor visas is investment in a business incorporated in the U.S. According to the FAM, “the concept of investment connotes the placing of funds or other capital assets at risk, in the commercial sense, in the hope of generating a financial return.” Other key requirements are that the business is real, operating, non-marginal, and appropriate nationality of the company applying.
The planned and completed expenditure of capital in addition to the presence of an active or soon to be operating business pushes foreign workers to pour money into the U.S. economy as a prerequisite, though not a guarantee, of visa issuance.
Similar to South Korea's current incentives, E visas allow for dependents to travel with the primary investor. The E visa sojourn period is also renewable as long as the investment continues to adhere to the qualification criteria, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Using a similar model, the South Korean government would be capable of drawing new business and foreign workers and capital to the country. The establishment of new business would open jobs for skilled Koreans in addition to creating openings for other skilled foreigners to temporarily or permanently transfer to the company in Korea.
The founding of foreign businesses in Korea would likely relieve hiring pressure in a limited market by creating jobs through the investment of foreign companies and corporations in Korea. These positions would draw skilled foreigners and their dependents as founding members of company branches and creates the potential for future visa holders from the same company.
The Korean government has effective criteria to draw foreigners for education in Korea, but the incentives for encouraging highly educated foreigners to work in Korea are still under development.
This October, the Korean government incentivized foreign residents' stays and created a new visa for highly educated foreigners in Korea, according to a report in The Korea Times.
Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki told the Times that the incentives would include permitting dependent visas and extended sojourn periods.
In concert with Korea's recent visa policy updates, trade and investment visas have the potential to convert to permanent residency, one of Korea's most enticing incentives for foreigners working within the country.
Other incentives such as low tuition and government scholarships have made Korea a “relatively competitive destination for international students in terms of cost,” according to the 2019 OCED report. The government also providing generous sojourn periods for graduates to secure full-time positions.
However, a 2019 OCED press release said that only 15 percent of foreign students who graduate from Korean universities remain in Korea after graduation, and that international graduates face the same challenges in the job market as domestic students, and most international students ultimately decide to look elsewhere for work.
If the Korean government hopes to ensure sustainable growth, there needs to be a greater emphasis on foreign investment and retaining foreigners who are already in Korea for study is a key component of that.
D-7, D-8, and D-9 visas are an opportunity to incorporate skilled foreign workers into the Korean economy post-graduation, but also should be promoted to overseas companies as an opportunity for growth in a capital filled market.
In order to recruit and maintain a highly skilled foreign labor force, the Korean government should specifically incentivize investment-based visas in addition to international student study to encourage international contribution of capital and professional workers to the Korean economy.
Olivia Truesdale is a student at Scripps College.