S. Korea scraps mandatory HIV test for native English teachers

South Korea will no longer require foreign English teachers to test for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to land a job here, on growing criticism over its discriminatory nature, the justice ministry said on Saturday.

Under the revised rules, which took effect July 3, those who come with an E-2 visa, a permit for English teaching in Korea, will only need to get a mandatory test for drugs and syphilis should they wish to find work in the country, the Ministry of Justice said.

Calls for a change in the required HIV testing grew after a New Zealander who had worked as an English teacher at an elementary school in Korea petitioned the United Nations' Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination against the regulation in 2012.

In 2015, the U.N. committee recommended Korea remove the visa requirement for HIV testing. In September last year, the country's human rights watchdog also supported the decision. (Yonhap)