South Korea will reopen its borders to workers from overseas who were blocked from entering due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the government seeks to reduce labor shortages.

The labor ministry said on Tuesday that some 26-thousand foreign workers who have already received employment permits will enter Korea from this month through August.

Around 28-thousand additional workers are expected to enter from September through December.

With around 19-thousand having already entered the country this year, a total of 73-thousand foreign workers are expected to enter Korea by the end of December.

The number of immigrant workers in Korea came to more than 51-thousand in 2019, but the figure dropped drastically to around six-thousand-700 in 2020 and ten-thousand-500 last year, sparking serious labor shortages at small and mid-sized firms and in the agriculture and fisheries sector.