Some 280 foreign workers are set to enter the nation Tuesday to work in the labor-intensive manufacturing sector.

They are the second batch of foreign workers to come to South Korea under a new foreign workers employment permit system that was implemented in August.

The Labor Ministry said the second group of foreign workers coming from Thailand, Vietnam, Mongolia and the Philippines follows another group of some 90 Filipino workers who arrived in Seoul late August.

The foreigners will be working for three years in some 100 small-and-medium sized businesses operating in Seoul and its surrounding areas.

The new foreign workers' permit system, which took effect on August 17th, allows South Korean employers who have difficulties hiring locals to legally hire an adequate number of foreign workers.

The system's implementation is expected to alleviate the chronic labor shortages plaguing small and medium-size businesses and extend basic rights and full legal protection to foreign laborers.