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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has announced that it will be recruiting candidates for the WEST program starting in mid-November.
WEST stands for Work English Study and Travel, a package deal for any aspiring young person wanting to head to the United States.
Those eligible are college students at any Korean university and first-year graduates.
The WEST program will work in conjunction with sponsors in the U.S., allowing candidates to enroll in five-month English language programs which they must pay for themselves. After that they will be given the opportunity to work as interns in U.S. firms for about a year with an additional month of time off to travel.
The ministry expects to choose 1,000 students this month who will be heading to the U.S. in March next year. That number is likely to increase in the future as officials hope to enroll up to 5,000 candidates annually.
There are also plans to extend the opportunity to less privileged students, who the government hopes will account for around 20 percent of the total recruits. A government loan will be handed to these candidates to ease their financial burden.
Ministry officials add that final adjustments and preparations are underway with the detailed outline of the WEST program soon to be released.
Arirang News
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