KUALA LUMPUR - South Korea’s prolonged labour market downturn is now affecting even low-wage jobs traditionally filled by foreign workers.

Government employment administration data released on Wednesday showed that the number of foreign workers permitted to enter the country under the E-9 visa in 2025 was set at 61,184.

This represents a 21.6 per cent decline from the 70,825 foreign workers allowed to enter in 2024, as reported by Korea JoongAng Daily.

Although last year’s overall quota under the scheme stood at 130,000, only 47.1 per cent of that figure actually entered South Korea.

The employment permit system allows small and medium-sized enterprises facing labour shortages to hire low-skilled foreign workers.

Such workers are typically employed in low-paid, labour-intensive sectors avoided by local workers, including manufacturing, construction, agriculture, livestock farming and fisheries.

The sharp reduction in this year’s quota suggests that weak domestic demand is now weighing on the broader labour market.

Declining production and construction activity has also reduced the overall need for manpower.

Manufacturing remains the largest employer of foreign workers, with 45,069 expected to enter the sector in 2025.

However, this figure marks a 27.7 per cent fall from the 62,303 manufacturing workers admitted in 2024.

The construction sector is set to receive 1,162 foreign workers this year, down 21.3 per cent from the previous year.

Service jobs and fisheries also recorded declines of 23.1 per cent and 9.9 per cent respectively.

By contrast, agriculture, livestock and forestry were the only sectors to register increases.

Hiring in agriculture and livestock rose 19.2 per cent to 8,794 workers, while forestry saw a 185.3 per cent jump to 97 workers.

The trend closely mirrors the wider slowdown in domestic employment, particularly in manufacturing and construction.

A Ministry of Employment and Labor survey showed that the number of job vacancies stood at 144,000 in November 2025.

This was a 14.2 per cent decline from a year earlier.

The number of job openings has been falling continuously since February 2024.

Manufacturing employment has declined for 26 consecutive months, while the construction workforce has shrunk for 18 straight months.

“Manufacturing and construction indicators remain weak, and the continued decrease in job vacancies appears to have impacted this year’s reduced intake under the employment permit system,” a labour ministry official said.