Till Sunday night, 1,495 Bangladeshi workers who had returned home have gone back to Korea, according to sources at the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment.

Some workers returned to Korea within two days without visiting parents and relatives. Most came by airways of Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand and took the return flights, the sources said.

The Korean government extended the tenure for another two years for those who already stayed three years. Workers spent five years in Korea have been asked to go back and renew the visa and government permission.

The Korean embassy in Dhaka is issuing visa within a day only to workers having new work permit in Korea.

The officials at the ministry ruled out any possibility of massive exodus of illegal workers from Korea, as the Korean government is allowing them to work if they have authorised papers.

The expatriates welfare ministry has introduced a special desk at Zia International Airport (ZIA) and three counters at Bureau of Manpower Export and Training (BMET) to give immigration certificates to the workers coming from Korea.

The special desk at ZIA is working round the clock, while the counters at the Bureau are kept open till 8:00pm, the sources pointed out.

The launch of new work permit system in Korea has created new opportunities for the foreign workers especially for Bangladeshis. Any person will get permit now if he or she gets a job in Korea.

Earlier under the quota system, Seoul used to take 8,800 workers annually from Bangladesh. Currently there are around 26,000 Bangladeshi workers in Korea, many of whose job tenure ended recently.