Mountain kingdom Nepal is seeing a second round of the Korean Language Test for the Employment Permit System this year on Saturday and Sunday, so huge are the numbers of applicants who hope to work in Korea.

According to the Labor Ministry there, 42,050 people have applied to take the test. Applicants from all over the country between 18 and 38 need to score among the top 4,000 to get a chance to work in Korea.

Candidates for a Korean language test pose for a picture in Kathmandu, Nepal on Thursday.

The Human Resources Development Service of Korea said the number of applicants in Nepal this year is the largest anywhere since the EPS-KLT was introduced in 2004. The test has been administered dozens of times in 15 countries, and the previous record was 41,756 applicants in Indonesia in May last year. But while Indonesia's total population is 240 million, Nepal's is mere 28.9 million, which shows how eager Nepalese are to come to Korea.

The Nepalese Labor Ministry and Korean diplomats in Nepal are snowed under. The test will be administered over two days in two groups of around 20,000 people, who will sit it at 28 schools under the watchful eye of 2,098 proctors and 630 Nepalese police officers.

Nepalese youngsters register for the Korean Language Test for the Employment Permit System at a stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal in June. /Courtesy of the Labor Ministry of Nepal

◆ 'Like Winning the Lottery'

What is the attraction of Korea for the Nepalese? "South Korea is a lucrative destination for Nepali migrant workers where a worker can earn up to US$1,000 monthly," the Himalayan Times said in June. Some 3 million Nepalese work overseas. In Korea they earn around W1.1-1.2 million (US$1=W1,193) if they work 10 hours a day and 25 days a month on the minimum wage of W4,100 per hour plus overtime. In India, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar they earn around W230,000 per month, and in Hong Kong around W400,000.

"Simply put, to Nepalese people passing the EPS-KLT is like winning a lottery," said a 45-year-old man who runs a travel agency. If they work between three and five years including the two-year renewal of their contract, they are comfortably off by Nepalese standards. Given that the average salary of workers there is W50,000-100,000, and they can earn 10 times more in Korea.

◆ Downsides

But there are downsides. The scramble for the test has allowed some 100 Korean language schools to charge applicants 50,000-100,000 Nepalese rupees (W800,000 to W1.6 million) a month for classes that are often substandard, and students have to pay much more for accommodation and books while they study. Since those who pass the exam are sent in batches over the course of two and a half years, many hopefuls are scammed by brokers who deceive them by saying they can expedite the process.

Mahesh Acharya at Nepal's Ministry of Labor and Transport Management said he asked the Korean government to administer the test more often and eventually allow more Nepalese to work in Korea.