More than one hundred thousand Nepali people have applied for the Korean language test under the Employment Permit System (EPS).
The EPS Korea Branch under the Ministry of Labor and Social Security had called for applications from August 11 to 16. According to the branch, 102,564 individuals submitted applications.
This time, an estimated 5,300 candidates are expected to pass the language test. Among them, 3,500 will qualify for the manufacturing sector while 1,800 will qualify for the agriculture and livestock sector. However, the branch has informed that the categorization of applicants into manufacturing and agriculture sectors is still pending.
Under the EPS system, Nepali citizens have been going to South Korea as laborers based on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Nepal’s Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security and South Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labor.
To select eligible candidates, the first stage involves a language test. This year, HRD Korea has allocated an estimated quota of 5,300 and sent the exam schedule, accordingly. The exact exam date will be announced later. The test will be conducted in a maximum of five shifts in a single day. The EPS branch has stated that the exam schedule may change depending on the number of applicants or other unforeseen circumstances.
The number of successful candidates may also increase or decrease based on the demand for workers in Korea.
Candidates who pass the language test will be eligible to apply for the second stage, which includes a skill and competency test. Details about the second stage will be made public after the results of the first stage are published.
All language test centers will be located in Kathmandu. The results will be published after receiving them from HRD Korea, and candidates can check their scores online.
The validity of the language test results will be only two years from the date of publication.
The exam will consist of 20 reading-related questions and 20 listening-related questions, each worth 100 full marks. The test will last 50 minutes (25 minutes for each section) and will be conducted continuously without breaks.
Candidates must bring their citizenship certificates and admit cards while appearing for the exam.
The EPS branch has warned that anyone caught cheating or assisting in cheating will be banned from taking the test for four years.
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