Migrant workers take an HD Test of Korean for Practical Industrial Communication at the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries headquarters in Ulsan, Sunday. Courtesy of HD Hyundai

The shipbuilding industry's heavy reliance on migrant workers has led domestic shipyards to devise various measures to help their foreign workers improve their fluency in Korean.

After beginning to teach migrant workers Korean during the shipbuilding industry boom in the early 2000s, major local shipbuilders have recently renewed these efforts to prevent language barriers from causing industrial accidents amid the latest upturn in the sector.

On Sunday, around 500 foreign nationals working at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' (HHI) shipyard in Ulsan took the HD Test of Korean for Practical Industrial Communication (TOPIC), which was jointly developed by the company and the University of Ulsan last September to test language proficiency, which is required for shipbuilding.

Following the first HD TOPIC last December, the shipbuilder has decided to regularly conduct the test once a month this year to measure migrant shipyard workers' proficiency in reading, speaking and listening comprehension in the Korean language.

According to HD HHI, workers with the highest grade (S) and the second-highest grade (A) will be eligible for appointment as supervisors. Those with the third-highest grade (B) will be allowed to acquire qualifications as drivers and signalmen.

"With the HD TOPIC, we will improve foreign workers' communication skills and create a safer and more efficient working environment," an HD HHI official said.

HD Hyundai Samho, another shipbuilding subsidiary of HD Hyundai, introduced an artificial intelligence translator last year to its shipyard in Yeongam County, South Jeolla Province, following the company's continuous efforts to teach migrant workers Korean.

In 2023, the shipbuilder hosted a Korean language speaking contest for its foreign workers.

Hanwha Ocean and Samsung Heavy Industries have collaborated with the Multicultural Promotion Institute of Changwon National University in South Gyeongsang Province to teach their migrant shipyard workers Korean.

Additionally, Korean shipbuilders have hired interpreters for their migrant workers and hung warning messages written in various languages in every corner of their shipyards.

The central and local governments have also supported the industry's efforts by opening training centers in the home countries of migrant shipyard workers to teach them Korean, as well as skills needed for shipbuilding.

The Ulsan Metropolitan Government recently agreed with Uzbekistan to open a training center for shipyard workers on Tuesday in the Central Asian country's capital of Tashkent. The Korean city also began financing HD HHI's training centers in Thailand and Vietnam.

Last August, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy opened a shipbuilding training center in the Indonesian city of Serang to offer welding, Korean language and safety courses to apprentices.