EPS-TOPIK Sectors: What Does 'Manufacturing' Actually Mean?

Introduction

When you write "manufacturing" on your application, which factory do you picture?

Many people think of the car factories or semiconductor factories they saw on the news. A huge building, rows of robots, white uniforms. The place where you actually end up standing in Korea can look quite different from that picture.

This article shows you that place in advance. First, what a manufacturing company actually does. Next, a self-check on what kind of work feels comfortable to you. Then the kinds of factories there are, and finally the words you will hear inside them: the words on safety signs, the words you use while working, and what those words mean once they arrive inside a sentence.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Always verify visa and immigration procedures with HRD Korea's official website or the relevant authority.

Part 1 · What does a manufacturing company do?

Manufacturing means making things. The company takes in materials or parts, then cuts, melts, presses, and assembles them into new products and ships them out.

The problem is how wide that one word is. Korea has an official system that sorts companies by the work they do. That system splits manufacturing into 25 groups.¹ The Ministry of Employment and Labor uses the same system when it reports how many E-9 workers are in manufacturing.² Companies that work with metal, companies that work with plastic, and companies that make food all sit inside it.

Part 2 · What kind of work suits you?

You do not choose which factory you go to, or what work you do there. That does not mean there is nothing to do right now.

There is one thing worth knowing in advance: what kind of work feels comfortable to you. Knowing this tells you what to prepare now, and it makes settling in easier once you arrive.

This is not about personality. Factory work has a few clear features. Answer the questions below one by one for yourself.

There is no correct answer. No answer here is better or worse than another.

But if one row made you think "that one would be hard for me," that is where your preparation starts. If sitting work worries you, learn some neck and back stretches in advance. If early morning shifts worry you, practicing an adjusted sleep schedule will help.

Part 3 · Five kinds of factories and the daily work

Now let us put names to those five questions you just answered.

Before that, here are some words worth knowing. Korean law lists 14 technologies that are used all across manufacturing.³ Companies that work with them are grouped together as 뿌리산업 (ppuri saneop / "root industries").⁴ Six of the 14 are the ones you will hear most often in a factory.

• 주조 (jujo / casting): melting metal until it is liquid, pouring it into a mold, and cooling it into a shape
• 금형 (geumhyeong / die and mold): making the mold that shapes other products
• 소성가공 (soseong gagong / metal forming): pressing metal to change its shape (press work belongs here)
• 용접 (yongjeop / welding): heating metal to join two pieces together
• 열처리 (yeolcheori / heat treatment): heating metal and then cooling it to make it harder
• 표면처리 (pyomyeon cheori / surface treatment): coating the outside of metal with chemicals so it does not rust (plating belongs here)

Two more of the 14 are 사출 (sachul / injection molding), melting plastic and pushing it into a mold to make a shape, and 정밀가공 (jeongmil gagong / precision machining), cutting very small parts very accurately. In the law they are written as 사출·프레스 (sachul·peuresu / injection molding and pressing) and 정밀가공. You will meet these eight words exactly as they are in company profiles and job postings. The word alone tells you what that factory does.

The other six are 3D printing (additive manufacturing), industrial film and paper processing, robots, sensors, industrial software, and engineering design. The last four are used to run factories automatically. None of the six come up often in your first factory job.

Auto parts factories often do pressing, welding, and assembly in the same company. There is a fixed date to deliver the parts, so the speed of the line is fixed too. You repeat the same movement at a set speed.

Metal, casting, and surface treatment factories handle hot metal and chemicals. You must wear safety equipment such as a helmet, gloves, and safety glasses, and the work steps are fixed in order.

Plastic injection molding factories melt plastic and push it into a mold. When the plastic hardens, you take the product out. The same work comes back every time the machine finishes one movement, so you move at the machine's speed.

Electronic parts assembly factories have a lot of sitting work. You rarely lift heavy things. But you sit in the same position for a long time and look at small parts for a long time.

Food manufacturing factories have many cleaning rules. There is a fixed order for putting on your uniform and washing your hands. Some places work in cold rooms. Some places work early in the morning.

Part 4 · The words on safety signs

That is how much the work differs from factory to factory. But there is one thing you hear in all of them: the words about safety.

Look at the 2024 industrial accident report from the Ministry of Employment and Labor. In 2024, 589 people died in work accidents. Of those, 66 people (11.2%) died from 끼임 (kkiim). 끼임 means an accident where your body or hand gets caught between machine parts. This number covers every kind of workplace, not only factories.⁵

This is why factory walls are covered in safety signs. Korean law fixes the types and the names of these signs.⁶

Read the color before you read the letters. The color alone tells you the meaning.

This table lists the signs you see most often in a factory. There are more. Warning signs for chemical substances have a different shape (a red diamond).

Two words here will carry you a long way.

• 금지 (geumji) at the end means "do not do it." 출입금지 means "do not enter."
• 착용 (chagyong) means "wear it" or "put it on." 안전모 착용 means "wear a helmet."

These signs appear on the exam too. HRD Korea writes down what appears on the EPS-TOPIK in an official document called the exam standards. The exam covers Korean language ability, understanding of Korean culture, and industrial safety and health, and the reading section includes safety signs and safety rules.⁷

On December 23, 2024, the Ministry of Employment and Labor and HRD Korea rewrote the Korean standard textbook for the first time in 11 years. The units about work went from 10 to 18, and content about safety and health more than doubled.⁸ The reason is simple. If your Korean does not work inside the factory, you can get hurt.

Part 5 · The words you use while working

After safety, the words you hear most are about the product in front of you.

The process names in Part 3 tell you what the company does. The words here are different. They describe the condition of the thing currently in your hands.⁹

Words that are not in the dictionary or the textbook

Those words are all in the dictionary. But once you start working you will also hear words that are in no dictionary and no textbook. Most of them came from Japanese, and they have been fixed in place on Korean work sites for a very long time.

The National Institute of Korean Language has collected these words and suggested standard Korean words to use instead. The table below only includes pairs confirmed in those materials.¹⁰¹¹

This table has one purpose. It is not asking you to use these words. It is helping you understand them when you hear them.

Look at the first row. 기스 is the same thing as 흠집 in the table above. It comes up often during inspection work. "여기 기스 났어" means "there is a scratch here."

When the word does not make sense to you, check it in standard Korean. Ask "기스요? 흠집 말씀이세요?" ("Giseu? Do you mean heumjip?") and most people will understand you.

Part 6 · When the words arrive inside a sentence

On the floor, these words never come alone. They arrive inside short instruction sentences.

And inside those sentences, one or two letters at the end of the verb change the meaning. They decide whether you move now or prepare something for later. Korean has small words that attach to a verb and add meaning. The main ones are 보다 (boda / to try), 놓다 (nota / to finish and leave ready), 두다 (duda / to leave as it is), and 주다 (juda / to do for someone).⁹

The pair people confuse most is "해 봐" and "해 놔". "해 봐" means try it now, and "해 놔" means finish it and leave it ready. If your senior says "해 놔" and you stop halfway, there will be a problem later.

The words from above, inside real sentences

When you do not understand

Do not just nod. Memorize these three sentences.

• "다시 한번 말해 주세요." (dasi hanbeon malhae juseyo / "Please say that one more time.")
• "천천히 말해 주세요." (cheoncheonhi malhae juseyo / "Please speak slowly.")
• "지금 할까요? 나중에 할까요?" (jigeum halkkayo? najunge halkkayo? / "Should I do it now, or later?")

The last one is especially useful. Even if you miss the exact instruction, knowing the timing saves you from big mistakes.

Wrapping Up

You cannot choose your factory now. What you can prepare now is what you will hear in your first week. Three things.

First, start with the words on safety signs. Just two words, 금지 (do not) and 착용 (wear it), already unlock half of every sign. Read the color first, and the letters after.

Second, learn the words used about the product. 자재, 불량, 검사, 흠집, 교대. Add the floor-only words 기스 and 시아게, and your first week gets noticeably easier.

Third, learn words inside sentences. Knowing the difference between "해 봐", "해 놔", "놔 둬", "해 줘", and "하지 마" keeps you from doing the opposite of what you were asked. Learn the three "please repeat" sentences alongside them.

If you are not sure where to begin, look again at the questions you answered in Part 2. If sitting inspection work worries you, start with 불량, 검사, and 기스. If standing in front of a machine worries you, start with 끼임, "하지 마", and "기계 끄고".

Your application says only "manufacturing." What you will actually meet is pressing, injection molding, and plating. Think in those specific words now, and you will understand far more in your first week in Korea.

Practice with SEDA

Safety words and work words are easy to forget after you see them once. Later, when you hear them in a factory, they may not come back to you.

Try SEDA's reading questions that use safety signs and notices. Save the ones you get wrong to Review Notes. You will get reminders at D+3, D+7, and D+30. You meet the same expression three times on three different days.

Download SEDA — free on iOS and Android

References