Seongju-gun holds outreach session on region-based visa system for local firms

Seongju-gun in North Gyeongsang Province held an outreach session on the region-based visa system Tuesday at the Industrial Complex Innovation Support Center, targeting officials from local small and medium-sized enterprises seeking to hire foreign workers.

The session was organized as part of a joint project by North Gyeongsang Province, the K-Dream Foreign Resident Support Center and Seongju-gun to explain the purpose, application requirements and procedures of the region-based visa system and to help companies recruit foreign workers.

The North Gyeongsang-style region-based visa system issues long-stay visas to foreign nationals who take jobs at companies in population-declining regions and reside there, encouraging them to put down roots locally.

The Ministry of Justice and local governments have jointly operated the system since 2023, expecting it to help counter regional depopulation and revitalize local economies.

"The region-based visa system is an important tool for helping foreign nationals settle stably in the community and for easing the labor shortages businesses face," Seongju-gun Mayor Jeon Hwa-sik said. "We plan to continue promoting both the region-specific and wide-area visa programs and to pursue a range of support projects to strengthen the competitiveness of local industries and create a stable environment for foreign residents."