CLARIFICATION ON MALAWI,S.KOREA DEAL No labour deal with Malawi, says South Korea, The Korean government has categorically denied to have ever agreed with the Malawi government that the latter should export workers to work in the Korean peninsula. On March, 15, during the launch of the youth job creation initiative President Joyce Banda told the nation that she had met her Korean counterpart where they had agreed that Malawi will be sending youths between the ages of 19 to 25 to work in South Korea. “To the youths who will be granted the opportunity to go to Korea, I expect you to work hard. Koreans are people who are hard working; they spend much of their time in the farm, likewise, work and impress them,” she said. However, in an Interview with BBC’s ‘Focus on Africa’ on Wednesday Chung-Hyung-woo, the South Korean Director of the Labour Market Policy Division of the Ministry of Employment, denied that his country and Malawi agreed on a deal for the latter to export labour. He said there was actually no official discussion on the matter. “There is no agreement between the two countries regarding sending Malawian workers to [South] Korea. The President of Malawi government had visited [South] Korea and she told the Korean people about her wish to send their[ Malawian] workers to Korea but there was no agreement between the two countries,” he said. The Korean official nonetheless hinted that the north Asian country would accept skilled workers but insisted there was currently no discussion between Lilongwe and Seoul on the matter. “Malawi wants to send agricultural workers but South Korea doesn’t need agricultural workers. We want people to work in small manufacturing businesses,” he said, adding: “And they need to be skilled to do manufacturing jobs. No memorandum of understanding has been signed or is even being discussed (between South Korea and Malawi) No official negotiation, none.” Labour Minister Eunice Makangala is on record to have said up to 100, 000 young Malawians would go to South Korea to work in agriculture and manufacturing industry. She told Zodiak Broadcasting Station’s ‘Tiuzeni Zoona’ programme that the first batch of over 300 would leave for Seoul “very soon”. The minister even said Malawians will be in South Korea for periods of four years and ten months. She said they would be paid in US dollars and half of their salaries would be kept for them by the Malawi Savings Bank. Several young Malawians were excited with the programme. Ruth Mbewe, a 25-year-old school drop-out from Nsanje, attended a training session for the scheme. “I applied for the South Korea programme,” she told BBC’s ‘Your Money’ programme. “I thought that this is my opportunity, it will change my life. I will be able to stand on my own, continue with my education, train for myself and after that I will get a job or I’ll be self employed and will employ other people. I thought that was a good opportunity.” Since the South Korean officials started denying the issue, Malawi government officials have been shunning making any further comments on it. Information Minister Moses Kunkuyu told the BBC government was not commenting on it. “The Minister of Labour, the Honourable Eunice Makangala, regrets to inform you that she is currently not making any comments on the labour arrangement between Malawi and South Korea until some sensitive issues that emerged are ironed out,” he said in an e-mail. But her Principal Secretary Wezi Kayira is on record to have confirmed that there is current no labour export deal with South Korea. God Bless our Nation
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 10:30:28 +0000
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