The Department of Foreign Employment on Friday issued a notice allowing applicants for shipbuilding jobs in South Korea to also apply for manufacturing opportunities there, even though the South Korean side is yet to formally endorse the idea, an official at the department said.

After the High Court, Patan ordered the government to allow the applicants for shipbuilding jobs who had failed the language test to apply for manufacturing jobs too on Friday, the department allotted January 1-3 next year to receive applications exclusively from those who had applied for shipbuilding jobs.

The ‘Employment Permit System [EPS]–Test of Proficiency in Korean’ is a specialised Korean language ability test designed to select foreigners for South Korean jobs.

Two youths—Birendra Shah, a 21-year-old from Achham, and Sujan Raut, a 23-year-old from Dailekh—died in clashes between police and shipbuilding job applicants who had protested demanding the opportunity to take the test for manufacturing jobs on Friday.

Citing the Korean government’s policy of not entertaining applicants for one job to apply for another, the department had earlier barred them from participating in the language proficiency test. This set off deadly clashes at Balkumari, Lalitpur on Friday.

“We held informal talks with the South Korean side amid the protests in Nepal,” said Gurudutta Subedi, director at the EPS section of the department, who was suspended for failing to prevent Friday’s incident.

“After the South Korean side notified us that they could consider Nepal’s request, we issued the notice giving applicants an opportunity to take qualifying tests for manufacturing jobs.”

The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security said on Friday that ever since the first protests started in August, the government has been in discussion with the Human Resources Development Service of Korea (HRD Service of Korea) to address the issue.

Earlier, citing a letter from the HRD Service of Korea dated July 31, 2023, the government had prevented applicants for shipbuilding jobs from reapplying for manufacturing jobs.

“We have not received a formal response from the South Korean side on our earlier requests,” said Subedi. “Now we have allowed applicants for shipbuilding jobs to apply for work in the manufacturing sector based on informal discussions with the South Korean side. We hope they will not exclude them from the evaluation process after they sit the exams.”

According to the department, there were around 35,000 applicants for the Korean language tests related to shipbuilding. Of them, around 32,000 took the test. As many as 4,090 passed while 3,989 were selected in the skill test, according to the department.

Those who passed the skill test will be on South Korea’s roster for potential employment there for two years, the department said. Following the government’s Friday decision, those who failed the language test for shipbuilding jobs in 2023 will be allowed to sit the test for manufacturing jobs.

According to the department, as many as 143,812 have submitted applications for Korean language proficiency tests. They will compete for 15,800 manufacturing jobs offered by Korean employers. There will be more applicants, with those who failed language tests for shipbuilding jobs allowed to re-apply.

Most Nepalis working in South Korea went through the EPS system, according to the Nepali embassy in South Korea. The embassy in Seoul told the Post that the country has nearly 40,000 Nepali workers.

The latest clashes also suggest the country’s inability to create good jobs, experts say.

Meanwhile, an emergency Cabinet meeting on Saturday decided to provide a million rupee each to the families of the two youths who were killed in a clash between the protesters and police on Friday. Minister for Communication and Information Technology Rekha Sharma, who is also the government spokesperson, said that the government had transferred key police and bureaucratic officials and suspended some others to prevent possible influence on the committee formed to probe Friday’s incident.

In a statement on Saturday, the home ministry said Deputy Superintendent of Police Umesh Lamsal of Lalitpur Police, who was on the field on the day of the incident, and Bodhraj Danuwar, personal security officer for Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Prakash Jwala, whose vehicle was burnt down by the protesters, were suspended.

Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, spokesperson for the ministry, said their suspension will be in effect until the probe committee submits its report. The ministry on Friday formed a three-member probe committee headed by Deputy Inspector General Lalmani Acharya from the Kathmandu Valley Police Office, with a mandate to submit its report within seven days.

The labour ministry suspended EPS section director Subedi, according to the home ministry’s statement.

The home ministry has transferred Lalitpur Chief District Officer Rudra Prasad Pandit to the ministry and Senior Superintendent of Police Siddhi Bikram Shah from Lalitpur to the police headquarters.