South Korea's experts and industry** recently said that as more and more young Koreans tend to leave the auto repair industry, resulting in a chronic shortage of workers in the industry, South Korea** should relax the relevant visa rules to attract more foreign auto mechanics to work in South Korea.
Lee Ho-geun, a professor of automotive engineering at Daedeok University, said that it is very difficult to get young Koreans into the auto repair industry, so South Korea** should revise its visa rules like Japan to attract foreign auto mechanics to work in South Korea. "If skilled foreign workers pass the Japan Automobile Maintenance Qualification Examination, they can stay in Japan indefinitely," he said. They can also get permanent residency if they stay there for more than ten years, which is not the case in South Korea. ”
A professor of automotive technology at Daelim University also emphasized the importance of establishing a solid car maintenance system across the country. "South Korea's technological prowess in the future of mobility has reached the world's first-class level, but the current state of the maintenance field still leaves much to be desired," he said. He also said that the arrival of foreign skilled workers would help solve the problem, as most students in South Korea are not even interested in working for world-renowned automakers such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
South Korea's industry** has also expressed concern about the issue, saying that most auto mechanics in South Korea are currently over the age of 40.