A total 7,996 candidates have passed the Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) language test for jobs in South Korea in 2019.

The Employment Permit System (EPS) under the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) announced the results on Friday.

Of the total passed candidates, 5,082 are from the manufacturing sector and the remaining 2,914 from agriculture and farming sectors respectively, said Shobhakar Bhandari, the information officer of the EPS Section at the department.

For the language test, 82,235 - 42,606 in manufacturing and 39,629 in farming - had filed their applications online from March 22 to March 31. Only 74,862 appeared in the test.

The South Korean government has announced that it will be hiring maximum 7,100— 4,800 in manufacturing and 2,300 in agriculture and farming— Nepali workers next year.

“This time 896 more candidates have passed that test. The number of candidates passing the test crosses the ceiling fixed by the Korea government every year. So not everyone who pass the test will get jobs in South Korea,” said Bhandari.  

For job placement this year, 12,108 had passed the test against the Korean job quota of 10,200, three times more than the ceiling fixed for the year 2017. The EPS Section is planning to complete the employment application process before Dashain.

Every candidate will have to apply for medical examinations and get police clearance certificates before submitting their final job applications.

The EPS Section will set up medical test for the candidates at various hospitals.

“We have to coordinate with hospitals for medical test as per their convenient time and date. Our work should not disturb their regular operation,” said Bhandari.

According to DoFE, nearly 55,000 Nepali workers have reached Korea under the EPS system since 2008.