Chungnam Province will simultaneously address the economic independence of international students and the labor shortage in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
On the 30th, Governor Kim Tae-heum signed a 'Business Agreement for the Economic Independence and Local Settlement of International Students' with presidents of 11 universities, representatives of 11 companies, the Korea Foodservice Industry Association, and the Chungnam Economic Promotion Agency.
Accordingly, the province will promote the 'Chungnam-type Work-Learning Dual System (in the service, agriculture, and manufacturing sectors)' to enable international students to balance study and work.
This program will be piloted in the second half of this year targeting 11 universities, 12 companies, and about 600 international students, with plans to expand to approximately 1,500 students next year.
The Promotion Agency, together with the province, will identify participating companies and match them with international students. Companies will provide job training and educational programs to international students participating in the standard field training and part-time short-term employment courses, paying wages equivalent to the minimum wage.
Universities will cooperate to ensure proper academic management of international students participating in the standard field training courses.
The province and the Promotion Agency plan to establish an 'International Student Part-Time Employment Platform' in July to provide interactive job information between international students and employers.
Governor Kim said, "Chungnam, with its aging population and high proportion of SMEs, faces a shortage of industrial manpower, while international students have very low local settlement rates due to economic and policy factors. The work-learning dual system and part-time employment platform will be a breakthrough to solve this situation."
He added, "Since last year, we have visited Vietnam, Laos, and Uzbekistan to discuss various ways to attract international students, and we will work to expand the number of companies participating in the work-learning dual system. We ask all institutions to cooperate in nurturing industrial manpower."
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