On December 29, two young men—Birendra Shah, 21, from Achham, and Sujan Raut, 23, from Dailekh—were killed in clashes between the police and protesters in Balkumari, Lalitpur.

That day, hundreds of youths who had earlier failed the language proficiency test for shipbuilding jobs in South Korea had taken to the streets demanding they be allowed to appear in a separate language test for the manufacturing sector.

The Department of Foreign Employment had earlier barred them from participating in the language proficiency test, citing the Korean government’s policy of not entertaining applicants for one job to apply for another.

The youths, frustrated with a lack of jobs in the country, were not having any of it and that set off the deadly clashes in Balkumari on that fateful day.

The government soon announced a Rs1 million compensation for the families of the deceased. The home ministry formed a three-member probe committee headed by Deputy Inspector General Lalmani Acharya with a mandate to submit the report within a week. And a Cabinet meeting formed a high-level commission led by former high court judge Shekhar Paudel to investigate the incident.

Who is responsible for the incident?

The probe committee and the commission are expected to answer this question. Two days after the incident, Home Minister Narayankaji Shrestha and Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Prakash Jwala engaged in a blame game at a parliamentary committee, where Shrestha accused Jwala of playing a catalyst in the incident.

Jwala had reached the protest site that day with his government vehicle, which the protesters set on fire.

The incident has set off a series of suspensions and transferrals of officials and security personnel.

In a statement issued a day after the incident, the home ministry said Deputy Superintendent of Police Umesh Lamsal of Lalitpur, who was on the field on the day of the incident, and Bodhraj Danuwar, Jwala’s personal security officer, were suspended.

The home ministry also said the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security had suspended Gurudutta Subedi, then director of the Employment Permit System (EPS) section of the department.

Meanwhile, the home ministry transferred then Lalitpur Chief District Officer Rudra Prasad Pandit to the ministry and Senior Superintendent of Police Siddhi Bikram Shah from Lalitpur to the police headquarters.

Most lawmakers speaking at the meeting of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives on January 1 blamed Minister Jwala for the incident, accusing him of travelling through the Balkumari route when the situation was already tense there.

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Shrestha questioned why the transport minister had to take that route when a personal security officer remains well-informed about the traffic situation. Jwala, however, later claimed he was not informed about the situation at the incident site.

What led to the incident?

On July 30 last year, the Department of Foreign Employment said in a notice that those failing the language tests for shipbuilding jobs could appear in language tests for other jobs in Korea.

But, five days later, the department changed its statement. Issuing another notice, it said that language test applicants could not apply for the test meant for separate jobs within the same year, citing a letter from the Human Resources Development Service of Korea dated July 31, 2023.

According to the department, there were around 35,000 applicants for the Korean language tests related to shipbuilding. Of them, around 32,000 took the test. As many as 4,090 passed and 3,989 were selected after the skill test, according to the department.

Those who passed the skill test will be on South Korea’s roster for potential employment there for two years, the department said.

On December 5, the department issued a notice seeking applications for language proficiency tests for 15,800 manufacturing jobs in Korea, denying the opportunity for those who had failed the language test for shipbuilding jobs.

Those unable to apply had been protesting against the new provision since August. The protests that involved memorandum submission and sit-ins were largely peaceful. Then a group of 18 applicants registered a petition at the High Court Patan.

On December 21, the High Court ordered the government to allow the 18 applicants to appear in the language test for manufacturing jobs.

Then, other applicants started a next round of protests, asking why they were denied the chance to apply while 18 people facing similar problems were cleared for the test. “This led to the tensions at Balkumari on December 29, which was the last day of submitting applications,” Dandu Raj Ghimire, director general at the Department of Foreign Employment, said.

That same day, the High Court issued another order allowing all the past applicants for shipbuilding jobs to sit the exams for manufacturing jobs too.

Why were old applicants allowed to take language test for manufacturing jobs too?

On December 29, the High Court Patan ordered that everyone who had failed the language test be permitted to do the language proficiency test.

A single bench of High Court judge Chandramani Gyawali ordered the government to allow the new writ petitioners and others facing similar problems to appear in the Korean language test, arguing that the government had made it clear that it was working to resolve the issue.

Subsequently, the Department of Foreign Employment opened the door for applicants for shipbuilding jobs to submit applications for manufacturing jobs too. The department set January 1–3 for application submissions and later extended the deadline to January 5.

During this window, over 21,000 applicants for shipbuilding jobs again applied for manufacturing jobs, according to Ghimire, the department’s director general. There were 143,812 fresh applicants. With the addition of over 21,000 applicants, there are now around 164,000 applicants for language proficiency tests for manufacturing jobs in South Korea.

Was South Korean approval sought for taking applications from past applicants?

Officials said no formal approval from South Korea was taken.“After the High Court ordered 18 people to take part in the exam, we held a discussion with the South Korean authorities on the matter,” said Labour Minister Sharat Singh Bhandari. “We allowed them to apply for the manufacturing jobs after the Korean side responded positively to our request.”

The Nepal government, on December 29, decided to allow all other applicants to apply for language tests for the manufacturing jobs too, citing the court’s decision. “I had tried to consult with Korean representatives on the day the decision was taken but to no avail,” Ghimire said.

Will South Korea accept Nepal’s decision?

The Korean government has not yet announced that it endorses the Nepal government’s decision to take fresh applications from those who had taken language tests earlier.

The policy of not taking applicants from another discipline in the same year applies to all 16 countries from where South Korea hires workers under the EPS system. So it is still unclear whether the South Korean government would offer a concession to Nepal only.

Officials said that since the court order became the main basis for deciding to take applicants from old applicants for shipbuilding jobs, South Korea had sought the copy of the court’s ruling from Nepal. “We have already sent the court’s order to the Korean side,” said Ghimire.

Following the government’s decision, the labour ministry held a meeting with South Korean Ambassador to Nepal Park Tae-Young. During the meeting, Nepali officials notified the Korean side about the government’s compulsion to follow the court order.

“The Korean side again responded in affirmative to settle the issue during our meeting with the South Korean ambassador,” said Bhandari, the labour minister. “We are confident the Korean side will accept the Nepal government’s decision, given the good track records of Nepali migrant workers there.”

According to the Nepali embassy in South Korea, there are around 40,000 Nepalis currently working in the east Asian country, the majority of them having reached there under the EPS system.

Minister Bhandari conceded that South Korea has not yet notified whether it would accept the Nepal government’s decision to take extra applicants but said they have made a request and are confident that the Korean government would respond positively. “In July last year, returnees from South Korean jobs protested demanding they be allowed to return to Korea for a job. The Korean side agreed to do so,” Bhandari said.

Bhandari added that South Korea has given a special treatment to Nepal’s request to accommodate Nepali workers which is also because of the good track records of Nepali workers in South Korea.

But Nepali officials are concerned about how South Korea would take challenges to its own policy from the Nepali state organs including the court and the government. “It is obviously a concern but we are confident that South Korea will not take it negatively,” Ghimire said. “Because they understand our situation and know the lure of Korean jobs to Nepali youths.”

Why is Korea so lucrative?

As many as 771,327 Nepalis left for foreign employment in the fiscal year 2022-23, a majority of them for Gulf countries and Malaysia, according to the department.

South Korea announces an annual employment quota under the Employment Permit System for workers from 16 countries, including Nepal, to work in agriculture and manufacturing sectors. For Nepal, the annual quota has remained in the range of 5,000–10,000, according to Nepal Labour Migration Report 2022.

Since Nepal and Korea signed a memorandum of understanding to send Nepalis to South Korea under the Employment Permit System (EPS) in 2007, there has been rapid growth in Nepalis seeking to go to the east Asian country for employment.

“South Korea has emerged as a favoured labour destination as a result of the higher salary on offer there,” the labour migration report says.

In 2008, there were only 31,525 applicants for Korean language proficiency tests, according to the report. The number grew to 92,356 in 2019. And in 2023, according to the department, around 164,000 Nepalis applied for language tests for manufacturing jobs only.