JAKARTA - South Korea’s agriculture and justice ministries began a month-long inspection on June 8 covering foreign seasonal agricultural workers in all 139 cities and counties assigned to the programme this year, the agriculture ministry said in a June 8 release.
The inspection runs until July 8. City and county governments will check farms assigned foreign seasonal workers. The ministries will conduct joint field inspections in 15 cities and counties where the number of assigned workers per management officer is more than twice the national average of 293.
Local checks will examine labour-contract compliance, mandatory insurance enrolment, lawful accommodation, heat illness prevention and workplace accident prevention. Joint inspections will also review required human rights education, contract compliance, insurance enrolment and whether workers live in lawful housing.
The inspection targets farm-level conditions in the agricultural seasonal worker system. South Korea uses the programme to place foreign workers in short-term agricultural jobs, including seasonal planting and harvest work, where farms need labour for limited periods.
The ministry said it would “identify additional policies to protect human rights, and improve related systems.” It said it would continue regular inspections with the justice ministry, the labour ministry and other government bodies.
Workers who need help can contact a counselling room operated by the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation. The service provides interpretation in six languages used by Asian worker groups: Nepali, Burmese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai and Mongolian.
If inspections find problems such as failure to provide lawful housing, local governments and farms must correct them within one month. Farms that do not comply can receive penalty points under Justice Ministry guidelines, and their foreign worker allocation for the following year can be restricted.
The government is currently operating 12 public accommodation sites this year, plans 10 farm cooperative facility remodelling projects, and targets 35 completed public accommodation sites by 2028.
