South Korean companies will soon be responsible for applying for work visas for their laborers from Vietnam.

Employment and Labor Minister Lee Ki-kweon and his Vietnamese counterpart Dao Ngoc Dung on Tuesday met in Hanoi and agreed to resume the employment permit system after halting it for four years.

Under the program, South Korean firms would apply for work visas for their Vietnamese employees before hiring them.

Vietnamese workers were eligible to obtain visas under Seoul's employment permit system from June 2004 to August 2012. However, amid concerns from the rising number of undocumented Vietnamese workers with expired work permits, the South Korean government  halted the program.

The Seoul and Hanoi governments on Tuesday also agreed to strengthen measures to prevent a possible rise of undocumented Vietnamese workers in South Korea.