The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) says that the Director of the South Korean Human Resources Department based in Sri Lanka, during a discussion with the Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara this morning (26), agreed to provide 8,000 job opportunities for Sri Lankans in S. Korea this year, exceeding the job quota of 6,500 offered earlier.

This agreement was reached during the discussion held this morning between the Director of the Korean Human Resources Department and the Minister, the SLBFE said in a statement.

It had also been agreed to refer 600 people who are currently registered in the Korean job website after passing the Korean language proficiency test under the production sector category for jobs in the shipbuilding sector. 

Priority will be given to job seekers registered in the website, whose period for securing a job will expire by December 31 this year. 

Accordingly, these jobs are to be provided by shifting the job category from the production sector of the website to the ship construction sector. Thus, candidates who are willing to change their job category from production to the shipbuilding industry should apply for it as soon as possible, the statement added.

The S. Korean Human Resources Department has also agreed to conduct examinations and recruit 900 welders and painters for jobs in the shipbuilding industry under the E9 visa category from next year.

The Director of the Korean Human Resources Department has also informed the Minister that from next year, the Korean Language Proficiency Test will be conducted using the UBT system instead of the current computer-based CBT system.