Samsung Group said Tuesday that 700 foreigners from 47 different countries submitted job applications during its regular recruitment session.

This year’s figure is a sharp jump from 130 applicants from 15 countries in 2009 and 500 applicants from 42 countries last year, according to Samsung officials.

Samsung’s new recruits, who will have to go through the company’s aptitude test and a series of interviews, will begin work in the latter half of this year.

Samsung currently has 2,000 foreign workers out of 200,000 employees in its local operations. Up to 40 percent are non-Koreans in its global operations.

Of the applicants, the largest figure of 200 was from China, followed by those from the U.S. and Canada with 100 people each. People from Yemen, Nepal, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda, Costa Rica and Guatemala were also included among the applicants.

The applicants are among the 50,000 college graduates who applied for a job at Samsung and its affiliates for the first half of this year. Samsung announced plans to pick 4,500 new employees in this recruitment session.

A total of 3,000 Korean students studying at 33 different schools overseas also applied up for a job at Samsung, with 65 percent of them coming from the U.S.

As part of its efforts to recruit young global talent, the country’s biggest conglomerate also offers interview sessions in English as well as its aptitude test called SSAT in other countries, according to its officials.

The SSAT will be held in five different regions in Korea and three areas in other countries ― Los Angeles, New York and Toronto ― on March 18.

By Cho Ji-hyun(sharon@heraldcorp.com)