CAMBODIAN labourers seeking South Korean work permits will be required to take a skills test beginning in November, officials said at a Phnom Penh workshop yesterday.

In response to complaints from several Korean firms of low technical ability among imported workers, Korean ministry of labour official Lee Bu-yong said that the skills test will ensure that workers have the necessary vocational skills before arriving.

The tests will be adjusted as they are implemented, but “the details for the tests are not completely set in stone”, she said.

Cambodian workers are permitted to stay five years in Korea, contingent on continued employment. Korea processes 5,300 Cambodian applicants each year, but awards a varying number of permits each year. Some 1,630 Cambodians were awarded permits in 2009.

Cambodian Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training secretary of state Pich Sophoan said the Kingdom has provided 436 workers so far this year, with a target to reach 2,000 by the end of 2010.

South Korea is looking to migrants to fill positions its population is not willing to take on, according to Kim Kyoung Soon, manager at the Human Resources Development Service of Korea.