South Korea has scaled down official development assistance (ODA) to Myanmar and it will continue to support the efforts of the Bangladesh government and the international community to repatriate the Rohingya refugees.
In an exclusive interview with Dhaka Tribune, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, Lee Jang-keun said: “Korea stopped new military and police related cooperation with Myanmar and did not allow any export of military-related equipment to Myanmar. Korea also significantly scaled down the ODA to Myanmar.”
Ambassador Lee considers the Rohingya refugee issue not only a humanitarian issue but also a human right issue. “Korea is working closely with the international community to resolve this serious international humanitarian and human rights crisis.”
From the humanitarian side, the envoy said, the Korean government has been providing assistance to protect the refugees generously hosted by Bangladesh. “We are providing around $4-5 million annually to the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh through international organizations based in the country.”
From the human right front, Korea is co-sponsoring the UN resolution on the human rights situation in Myanmar as a way to pressure Myanmar leaders to uphold the human rights of their own citizens, Ambassador Lee said, noting: “Rohingyas are victims of the human rights abuses by its own government.
“Ultimate resolution of the Rohingya refugee issue requires progress both in humanitarian and human rights situations. Reconciliation between Rohingyas, victims, and Myanmar military leaders should be done. These are very important conditions for the repatriation of Rohingyas.”
Bangladeshis employment quota doubled
Responding to a question on South Korea accepting more manpower from Bangladesh, Ambassador Lee said the Korean government has been recruiting low- and medium-level skilled foreign workers from 16 selected countries, including Bangladesh, through an Employment Permit System (EPS).
“So far, more than 45,000 people have gone to Korea as expatriate workers since 1994 under the EPS program. At present more than 10,000 EPS workers are working in Korea and Korea has become the 12th remittance sourcing country in the 2019-20 fiscal year with $209 million.”
He added: “The annual quota allocated to Bangladesh has been around 2,000 on average. But this year, this quota has more than doubled to 4,000. We expect a record-high number of Bangladesh workers to be admitted to Korea this year. A total of 3,500 Bangladeshi workers have already been admitted to Korea between January and September 2022.”
He said efforts were underway to increase the number of workers and diversify the areas of employment, including fisheries and agriculture. “Also, sending more female workers is another task that our two governments should work on. For the skilled workers, we do not have a program to systematically recruit skilled workers, particularly on such a scale of EPS workers. However, as the Korean job market requires competitive foreign labour forces, skilled Bangladeshi workers might have more chances to find jobs in Korea.”
More Bangladeshi students pursuing higher studies in Korea
Ambassador Lee said: “Currently, about 1,500 Bangladeshi students are studying in Korea. A majority of them are pursuing higher master’s or doctorate degrees in the engineering field. Most of them are studying with a partial or full scholarship.”
He said that Korea is becoming a more and more popular destination for Bangladesh students even though the Covid-19 pandemic affected many aspiring Bangladeshi youths wanting to study in Korea due to visa restrictions. After the lift of visa restrictions in November 2021, more students are going to Korea.
“The number of student visas my embassy issued in 2019 just before the Covid-19 pandemic was around 450. From 2022 until now, we have already issued more than 800 student visas. The number of Bangladeshi students going to Korea will continue to increase in the coming years.”
GKS, Global Korea Scholarship, is the major Korean Government scholarship for international students for undergraduate and graduate studies. He said: “Annually, 15 to 20 Bangladeshi students are going to Korea under the GKS scheme. This year, seven Bangladesh students were admitted through this program for graduate studies in various Korean universities.”
The spread of Hallyu – Korean Wave
The spread of K-culture, Hallyu, among Bangladesh youngsters is paving a fertile ground for engaging the young generation in future-oriented Korea-Bangladesh relations. Ambassador Lee said: “Through K-pop, K-drama, K-movie, K-food and K-cosmetics, more and more Bangladeshi people are having an interest in Korea and Korean culture. Korea is becoming a popular academic destination for many Bangladeshi youths. There is also an increasing demand for learning the Korean language.”
Even during the pandemic time, K-pop festivals and competitions hosted both online and offline drew a lot of attention and participation from many Bangladesh youths. Thousands of Bangladeshi youths also attended the Korean Film Festival and the Tourism Festival in November last year at the Bangladesh National Museum, said the Korean envoy.
“In addition to Dhaka University, Korean language programs called King Sejong Institute have been newly installed at the Independent University, Bangladesh(IUB) and American International University Bangladesh (AIUB) this year.”