SEJONG - South Korea's third-round E-9 employment permit issuance window for agriculture and livestock, fisheries, forestry, construction and services runs from Aug. 12 to Aug. 19.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor set separate issuance periods for employers taking part in the third round. Manufacturing and mining were scheduled for Aug. 5 to Aug. 11, followed by agriculture and livestock, fisheries, forestry, construction and services from Aug. 12 to Aug. 19.
The ministry announced a third-round allocation of 12,630 foreign workers. The published breakdown includes 9,020 for manufacturing, 1,906 for agriculture and livestock, 1,196 for fisheries, 394 for construction and 114 for services.
Forestry appears in the Aug. 12 to 19 issuance schedule, but the ministry does not list a separate forestry figure in the allocation breakdown.
A later Work24 allocation notice adds an operational qualification to the service figure. It says 26 places from the third-round service allocation were added to the second round after applications exceeded that round's 140-person service allocation. Another 76 places left from the first round were also added.
Employers applied for the third round from July 6 to July 20. Businesses seeking E-9 workers had to complete seven days of domestic recruitment efforts before applying through a local employment and labor office or Work24. Results were scheduled for Aug. 4.
Work24 schedules SMS notifications on delayed issuance for Aug. 20, followed by delayed employment permit issuance on Aug. 21.
The third round forms part of South Korea's broader 2026 E-9 intake plan. The government set the annual E-9 quota at 80,000, down by 50,000 from 130,000 in 2025. The 2026 ceiling consists of 70,000 sector-specific places and a 10,000-person flexible allocation intended to respond to changing labor demand.
The separate shipbuilding quota that operated from April 2023 through 2025 was folded back into manufacturing for 2026. The ministry said flexible allocation capacity may be used when individual sectors face demand above their planned allocation.
For employers covered by the current issuance window, Aug. 19 is the final scheduled day before the delayed-issuance process begins.
