Here are four news items with upcoming deadlines for this week. The issuance of employment permits starts today, and the period for submitting opinions on the Enforcement Decree of the Building Act ends next Monday.
Today’s Key Highlights
- Issuance of the 4th round of 2026 E-9 (Non-professional Employment) new employment permits: Manufacturing and Mining from October 19–23; other industries from October 26–30.
- Re-announcement of the legislative notice for the Enforcement Decree of the Building Act: Proposed relaxation of multi-family housing to 4 floors or fewer; opinions accepted until October 26.
- Regular investigation into entrusted/entrusting transactions begins on the 19th; the scope of the transaction period has been expanded from 6 months to 1 year.
1. E-9 Employment Permit Issuance Schedule and Manufacturing Quotas for Non-Metropolitan Areas
- What is changing: The issuance of the 4th round of 2026 Non-professional Employment (E-9) new employment permits will proceed by industry. This allocation consists of 12,357 people nationwide, with 9,020 in manufacturing. According to reports, the separate quota for the shipbuilding industry has been integrated into this year’s manufacturing quota, and the additional employment limit for manufacturing in non-metropolitan areas has been increased from 20% to 30%. The restriction that the number of foreign workers cannot exceed the number of domestic workers remains unchanged. It is reported that the 50-person additional employment cap for “returnee companies” (companies returning to non-metropolitan areas) has been abolished.
- Who it applies to: Business owners in manufacturing, mining, agriculture, livestock, fisheries, forestry, construction, and services who have received selection results.
- When: Manufacturing and mining from October 19 (Mon) to October 23 (Fri); agriculture, livestock, fisheries, forestry, construction, and services from October 26 (Mon) to October 30 (Fri).
- Administrative Agent’s Note: Selection results can be checked via text message or on Employment24. Since the legal effects of failing to process within the issuance period and the detailed criteria for applying limits cannot be fully understood through news reports alone, ⚠️ the original text must be verified (Ministry of Employment and Labor announcement).
- Source: Ink News · Ulsan Manufacturing Labor Shortage, Foreign Worker Employment Permits to be Issued from the 19th (Report citing Ministry of Employment and Labor announcement)
2. Re-announcement of the Legislative Notice for the Enforcement Decree of the Building Act: Relaxation of Floor Count and Floor Area for Multi-family Housing
- What is changing: This is a plan to reorganize the Enforcement Decree following the amendment of the Building Act (Act No. 21880, promulgated on August 11, 2026, effective November 12), which requires building height restrictions to be directly stipulated in the law. The proposal includes changing the floor limit for multi-family housing from 3 floors or fewer to 4 floors or fewer, relaxing the floor area standard for residential use of a single building in multi-household/multi-family housing from 660 square meters or less to less than 1,000 square meters, and allowing the relaxation of floor area ratio (FAR) standards for community facilities in multi-household housing.
- Who it applies to: Building owners and stakeholders involved in the construction, design, or licensing/permitting of multi-household and multi-family housing.
- When: The period for submitting opinions is from October 16 to October 26. The effective date of the Enforcement Decree ⚠️ requires verification of the original text.
- Administrative Agent’s Note: This is a legislative notice, so it is not yet finalized. If you have construction plans, please check the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s proposal before the opinion submission deadline, and compare it again with the finalized content after promulgation.
- Source: National Legislation Participation Center · Re-announcement of the Partial Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Building Act by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
3. Regular Investigation into Entrusted/Entrusting Transactions: Inspection of Implementation of the Subcontract Price Indexation System
- What is changing: The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will begin the statutory investigation under the Act on the Promotion of Collaborative Cooperation and Support for Small and Medium Enterprises from October 19. The investigation targets 3,000 entrusting companies and 12,000 entrusting companies (totaling 15,000 companies) and will inspect transactions made throughout the year 2025. The scope of the transaction period has been extended from the existing 6 months to 1 year. Inspection items include the implementation of the subcontract price indexation system, issuance of written agreements, compliance with payment and payment deadlines, unfair price reductions, unfair determination of prices, and unfair requests for technical data. The investigation consists of three stages: surveys of entrusting companies, surveys of entrusting companies, and on-site investigations of suspected companies.
- Who it applies to: Entrusting and entrusting companies subject to the investigation.
- When: Starting from October 19.
- Administrative Agent’s Note: If violations are confirmed, administrative measures such as requests for improvement will follow for the entrusting companies. If you are subject to the survey, please organize your records regarding the issuance of written agreements and data on payment dates in advance.
- Source: Policy Briefing · Ministry of SMEs and Startups Press Release: 2026 Regular Investigation into Entrusted/Entrusting Transactions
4. Legislative Notice of the Enforcement Decree for the Animal Welfare Livestock Direct Payment System
- What is changing: The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has announced a proposed amendment to the Enforcement Decree to establish a new direct payment system that compensates for the public value of animal welfare livestock farms. It stipulates the livestock products subject to payment, payment standards, selection of targets (Articles 51 to 56 of the Decree), and restrictions on payment and recovery (Article 57). The unit price and amount of payment are not included in the summary of the notice, so ⚠️ verification of the original text is required.
- To whom: Certified animal welfare livestock farms
- From when: Opinion collection from October 16 to November 25 (Wed); Implementation date ⚠️ verification of the original text is required
- Administrative Agent’s Note: Since reasons for payment restrictions and recovery are included, please check the certification maintenance conditions and payment requirements in the proposed amendment.
- Source: National Participation Legislation Center · Legislative Notice of the Partial Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
Deadlines to Note This Week
- October 19–23: Issuance of E-9 Manufacturing/Mining Employment Permits
- October 26: Deadline for opinions on the re-legislative notice of the Enforcement Decree of the Building Act
- October 26–30: Issuance of E-9 Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Forestry, Construction, and Service sectors
- November 25: Deadline for opinions on the Enforcement Decree for the Animal Welfare Livestock Direct Payment System
This briefing is a guide organized by the Hwang Yunsang Administrative Agent Office based on public data. Whether these apply to individual cases requires verification with the competent authorities.