Kazakhstan joins E-9 program as South Korea expands foreign worker network to 18 countries

The government will add Kazakhstan as a sending country under the Employment Permit System (E-9) for foreign workers. Kazakhstan is expected to begin supplying workers to South Korea in 2028, following the signing of a government-to-government MOU and the establishment of a local Korean language test (EPS-TOPIK) center.

The government convened the 49th Foreign Workforce Policy Committee on Friday at Government Complex Sejong, chaired by Office for Government Policy Coordination Minister Im Gi-geun, and finalized a plan to designate Kazakhstan as an E-9 sending country along with measures to reform the employment permit system for the construction sector.

With Kazakhstan's addition, the number of E-9 sending countries will grow from 17 to 18, joining the Philippines, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Cambodia, China, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, East Timor, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos and Tajikistan. Kazakhstan will be the fourth Central Asian country in the program, after Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

The government determined that Kazakhstan has dedicated government and public institutions capable of overseeing worker recruitment and dispatch, ensuring fairness and transparency in the selection process. Korean language education facilities, EPS centers and medical screening infrastructure were also assessed as adequate. The government said it had confirmed Kazakhstan's willingness to cooperate on institutional reforms to curb illegal stays.

Regulations on hiring foreign workers in the construction sector will also be eased. Under the current system, foreign workers are tied to the specific construction site named in their employment permit and can only transfer to another site in limited circumstances, such as when work at their assigned site ends or is suspended. Critics have long argued that this arrangement undermines the effectiveness of employment restrictions imposed for labor law violations — since those restrictions apply only to the individual site — and fails to reflect the construction industry's frequent shifts in labor demand depending on project volume.

Going forward, the government will allow foreign workers to be transferred to other construction sites operated by the same employer, provided the destination site meets employment permit requirements. The relaxed transfer rules will take effect during the fourth E-9 application period of this year, running from Sept. 14 to Sept. 29.

At the same time, employment restrictions will be tightened. Bans on hiring foreign workers for employers who violate labor laws will shift from the site level to the employer level, meaning a violation at one site will bar the employer from hiring foreign workers at any of their other sites as well. The measure will take effect in March 2027 after a six-month grace period.

"Designating Kazakhstan as a new sending country and improving how the construction sector's employment permit system operates are expected to contribute greatly to responding quickly and efficiently to the deepening labor shortages at industrial sites," Im said. "It is also very important to provide comprehensive residency support and thorough industrial accident prevention activities so that foreign workers can settle stably in the workplace," he added.