By Lee Kyung-min

The government is seeking to toughen visa issuance rules for foreign entertainers, considering the fact that many coming here on the visa overstay their welcome illegally or engage in prostitution.

This is part of anti-prostitution measures jointly discussed by the Ministries of Gender Equality, Justice, Culture, and Labor as well as the National Police Agency, Monday.

The E-6 visa includes three types: E-6-1 for artists; E-6-2 for singers or performers at hotels and bars, and E-6-3 for athletes.

Of 4,927 people with E-6 visas, those with E-6-2 visas accounted for 82 percent. And many of them work as hostesses or even prostitutes rather than as performers, according to the ministries.

"Many of them are not paid on time, often facing human rights abuses. Many also overstay their visas," a gender equality ministry official said.

The culture ministry will require the E-6-2 visa applicants to submit at least three years of past performance records to the Korea Media Ratings Board, which will review the materials to determine whether they qualify as professional entertainers for the visa.

The justice ministry will reject visa issuance if the hotels or bars employing the entertainers lack a proper performance environment or the workers are likely to face abuse.

For applicants from the Philippines, Korean consulate officials in the country will interview them to decide whether to issue the E-6-2 visa. More than 30 percent of Philippine nationals who have come to Korea with that visa are staying illegally, according to the justice ministry.

The culture ministry will check whether hotel or bar operators have prior criminal offences to prevent possible offences against workers.