VIENTIANE: Laos’ Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MoLSW) has warned people seeking jobs in South Korea not to use unauthorised brokers who claim they can speed up the government’s employment process in exchange for additional payments.
In a notice dated 13 August, the ministry said it had received information that unauthorised individuals and organisations offer Lao job seekers the chance to travel to South Korea faster than through the official Employment Permit System (EPS), in exchange for additional fees.
Under the EPS, the recruitment and deployment of Lao workers to South Korea is handled directly between the Lao and South Korean governments.
The ministry said other parties are not authorised to participate in the process.
The ministry urged Korean language training centres to protect students’ personal information and avoid sharing it with unrelated individuals or organisations, warning that unauthorised groups could misuse such data to offer misleading services or demand illegitimate payments.
Any centres that share individual data with unauthorised parties may face penalties, including exclusion from future EPS registration and examinations.
Laos and South Korea continue to deepen cooperation across labour migration, agriculture and economic development.
Laos plans to send over 17,000 workers to South Korea in 2026 under its seasonal work programme, while improving training, recruitment and returning workers. Yet early 2025 figures reported by Lao authorities showed over 73,000 Lao workers living abroad undocumented, underscoring the need for legal recruitment. - Laotian Times
