The government’s effort to attract foreign aviation manufacturing personnel to advance the domestic aviation industry has revealed blind spots in management, including issues related to criminal involvement and technology leakage. Among the 119 visa (E-7-3) applications submitted this year to recruit aircraft and parts manufacturing personnel, a total of 46 cases (38.6%) were either rejected by the Ministry of Justice or voluntarily withdrawn. The government’s policy to secure up to 300 global aviation engineers annually to boost the competitiveness of the aviation industry was also being pushed forward hastily.
According to data received by National Assembly Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee member Choi Su-jin from the Space Aviation Agency for the national audit on the 20th, problems were revealed in the Space Aviation Agency’s 'E-7-3 visa pilot project for the aviation manufacturing sector,' which aims to attract about 300 foreign engineers with a master’s degree or higher in science and engineering and at least one year of experience in the aviation field as on-site engineers.
This project is being piloted from 2024 to 2025. The E-7-3 visa was newly established by the government last May as a specialized residency status for foreigners wishing to work in the domestic aviation manufacturing industry.
The government does not require key documents necessary for identity verification, such as criminal record certificates and health status confirmations, for this visa application. Even for the less skilled non-professional foreign workforce visa (E-9), a criminal record certificate is a mandatory requirement.
However, out of the total 119 E-7-3 visa applications this year, 38.6% (46 cases) were not approved. Among these, 3 cases were rejected by the Ministry of Justice due to issues related to work experience. The remaining 43 cases were voluntarily withdrawn by manpower supply companies anticipating further rejections by the Ministry of Justice.
Assembly member Choi pointed out that the government was leading the influx of foreign workers who had not undergone proper identity verification, including checks for criminal records and potential technology leakage, into national strategic technology industry sites.
The E-7-3 visa process involves the Korea Aerospace Industry Promotion Association, affiliated with the Space Aviation Agency, forming a preliminary recommendation list, with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy responsible for verification and final recommendation, and the Ministry of Justice making the final approval decision, which increases administrative waste and inefficiency.
Choi also criticized the Space Aviation Agency for effectively neglecting plans to utilize local talent domestically. The agency’s budget proposal for next year includes no funds for training specialized personnel in the aviation sector, allocating only 6.95 billion KRW for training specialized personnel in the space sector.
Amid the Space Aviation Agency’s indifference, local governments such as Gyeongsangnam-do and Sacheon City are making strenuous efforts to improve local employment rates by allocating a combined budget of 12.5 billion KRW.
Assembly member Choi Su-jin emphasized, “Since the aerospace industry is a national advanced technology sector, securing verified highly skilled on-site personnel and complementary technology is key. The government must not miss the golden time for industrial consolidation by hastily recruiting foreign workers who have not been properly verified, focusing only on quantitative workforce acquisition.”
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