Rep. Koh Dong-jin of the ruling People Power Party, the former president and CEO of Samsung Electronics known for boosting the Galaxy brand, has introduced a bill to ease visa requirements to attract top-tier talent in the AI, semiconductor and bio sectors from overseas, his office said Tuesday.

The proposal submitted by Koh and 10 other lawmakers seeks to revise the Immigration Act and calls on the government to issue special visas for highly-skilled professionals in advanced strategic industries. These sectors include semiconductors, software, display technology, bio, secondary batteries and other key strategic areas.

Under the proposal, foreign national workers would benefit from reduced visa screening times, simplified documentation requirements, expanded allowance for accompanying family members and extended duration of stay.

The bill comes at a time when major countries are racing to secure dominance in cutting-edge technology by luring top talent. Though South Korea has ramped up efforts to bring in top-notch tech talent from overseas, the nation's retention level lags behind other key countries.

Skilled professionals of foreign nationality working in Korea make up only 0.09 percent of the population, lower than Singapore’s 6.6 percent, Australia’s 0.3 percent, Japan’s 0.3 percent, the European Union’s 0.2 percent and Taiwan’s 0.2 percent, according to Koh’s office.

Koh pointed out that countries such as the US, the UK, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan are actively pursuing policies to relax visa rules to attract top talent in AI and high-tech industries.

“At a time when major competing countries around the world are putting all-out efforts to scout top tech industry talent, Korea has primarily focused on fostering domestic talent, with relatively little efforts to attract foreign experts,” said Koh. “We must pass the special visa act promptly to achieve innovative industrial growth and technological development in Korea.”

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)