Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jung-sik speaks during an event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Employment Permit System in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of Ministry of Employment and Labor

Rodkyn Suchin had little going for him as a young man. Born into an ordinary family in Thailand, he lacked both financial resources and impressive academic credentials.

But he had a dream. He wanted to start his own business. But with his low-paying welding job, it seemed like it would take forever to achieve that dream. So, when he learned in 2004 that firms in Korea were recruiting foreign workers through the newly introduced Employment Permit System (EPS), he decided to take this uncharted path.

"I thought working in Korea would be an opportunity to achieve my goal," Suchin, now 42, said. "When I came back to Thailand, I first bought a car with the money I earned in Korea. With that car, I slowly started my own business, meeting potential customers … I hope that this EPS continues to develop because for some people, it can be a life-changing opportunity. I'm really grateful."

He was one of the several speakers honored at an event held in Seoul, Monday, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the policy.

Introduced to manage foreign workers in collaboration with six countries, the Employment Permit System (EPS) has become a vital component of Korea's labor market. Since the arrival of the first group of 92 workers from the Philippines in August 2004, over a million others from 16 nations have joined them through the system.

Noname Pingoy was among those who arrived at Incheon International Airport in August 2004. She spent about four years working at a cellphone accessory manufacturer in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, before relocating to Vancouver, where she now works as a medical technologist.

"The EPS gave us the opportunity and great experience," Pingoy said in a video played at the event.

Over the past two decades, the system has provided significant benefits to both overseas workers and employers in Korea — though not without its challenges.

Over this period, the number of undocumented foreigners has surged to more than 420,000 out of a total of 2.6 million foreign residents. The incidence of crimes committed by these individuals has also increased. Critics of the policy cite issues such as rights abuses, racism, and rising tensions between foreign and Korean laborers as additional reasons for their disapproval.

But faced with a shortage of workers in many industries amid a shrinking population, Korea's reliance on foreign labor is expected to grow in the coming decades.

Speaking at the event, Lee Jung-sik, minister of employment and labor, said he will continue to expand the policy.

"There have been growing voices calling for (more) foreign workers to be permitted in more industrial sectors," Lee said. "We should make the system more flexible so that it can deploy workers to more jobs in more sectors where they are needed."

In an effort to address issues like human rights abuses of foreign workers and to integrate them as equal partners in Korean society, he also pledged to make the EPS more "inclusive."

"With the global technological development and Korea's demographic shift taking place, we are now experiencing a great transformation," Lee said. "The EPS should be adapted to these changes accordingly. A comprehensive and innovative system reform is needed to ensure its sustainability for the next 20 years."