29-Year Veterans of Shipbuilding Industry Support Verification of Foreign Skilled Workers On Site

Korean Marine Plant Association Regular Organization
Establishment of 'Foreign Workforce Introduction Support Center'

Inauguration Ceremony of the Foreign Workforce Introduction Support Center. Photo by Korea Offshore & Shipbuilding Plant Association

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seoyoon] The Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Plant Association announced on the 19th that it has established the 'Foreign Workforce Introduction Support Center' as a regular organization within the association and has begun full-scale activities.

The center has 11 personnel. Among them, 5 are retired expert advisors from the shipbuilding industry. These expert advisors, including a welding master from Samsung Heavy Industries, are veterans who worked in the shipbuilding industry for an average of 29 years before retiring.

They play a role in verifying the skills of shipbuilding personnel locally overseas. It is expected that the association's expertise in skill verification will be further strengthened in the future.

Since the government's revision of the 'Specific Activity (E-7) Visa Issuance Guidelines' in April this year, the demand for skill verification of foreign workers in the shipbuilding industry has surged, but there was an evaluation that the lack of a dedicated organization limited the provision of quality services and accumulation of capabilities.

Ryu Seungho, an expert advisor and former head of the technical training center at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, expressed his aspiration, saying, “As someone who has spent a lifetime with the shipbuilding industry, I want to contribute to overcoming the current shortage of production personnel in the shipbuilding industry.”

Song Youngdo, a member from the procurement division of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, said, “I still cannot forget the desperate look in the eyes of the locals during the skill verification in Sri Lanka last month,” and added, “Although it was physically demanding, I am grateful to have the opportunity to contribute once again to the development of the shipbuilding industry.”

The association has dispatched verification teams to major countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam, conducting skill verification for over 4,000 people.

Successful candidates are being admitted sequentially through consultations with our government and the sending countries' governments. Currently, admission procedures are underway for about 300 skilled personnel.

Vice Chairman Choi Gyu-jong stated, “With the establishment of the Foreign Workforce Introduction Support Center, we will strive to promptly bring in excellent foreign skilled workers so that our shipbuilding industry ecosystem can be maintained and developed,” and added, “We also plan to cooperate with the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency to develop and distribute shipbuilding industry accident prevention materials in local languages and ensure their use on-site so that foreign workers can work safely without industrial accidents within shipyards.”