Yeongju to Welcome 145 Foreign Seasonal Workers in the Second Half of the Year

Sequential Entry of Farming Partners... A Blessing for Farmers During Harvest Season

Yeongju City, North Gyeongsang Province (Mayor Park Namseo), announced on the 9th that to address the labor shortage in rural areas during the harvest season, 145 overseas workers will enter the country in five phases in the second half of the year, starting with the arrival of 35 seasonal workers from Rosales, Philippines on the 9th.

The seasonal workers who arrived on this day are from Rosales, Philippines, which signed an international friendship and exchange agreement with Yeongju City on November 28 last year. Among them, 25 have E-8 (5-month) visas and 10 have C-4 (90-day) visas. After completing the entry orientation, they will be assigned to 11 local farms, where they will live and work with the hiring farmers, assisting with the harvest of crops such as ginseng, apples, peaches, and peppers.

This year, the city is bringing in a total of 437 foreign seasonal workers. Among them, 291 are farm-based seasonal workers recruited through agreements with Rosales and Mabalacat in the Philippines, and 116 are invited through marriage migrant family sponsorship. In addition, 30 public seasonal workers from Thai Binh Province, Vietnam, will arrive through a business agreement.

Notably, among the 292 seasonal workers who entered in the first half of the year, 274 (about 94%) applied for employment extension (up to three months), allowing them to continue farm work in the region in the second half of the year without having to leave the country. Since July last year, under the government's "Foreign Seasonal Worker Program Improvement Plan," seasonal workers with E-8 visas can extend their stay by up to three months.

The city plans to pilot the Public Foreign Seasonal Worker Brokerage Center from the 19th until November 9. The center will be operated by Anjeong Nonghyup, which will directly employ foreign workers, provide accommodation and meals, and dispatch workers to farms in need of labor for a fee.

The usage fee for farms is 100,000 won per day, and labor can be requested on a daily basis. Working hours are from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (break from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.), and an additional fee of about 10,000 won per hour is charged for overtime. Farms wishing to use the Seasonal Worker Brokerage Center can contact Anjeong Nonghyup.

Park Namseo, Mayor of Yeongju, said, "We are building a partnership between foreign seasonal workers and local farms by giving priority placement to workers recommended for re-entry by hiring farms. We will strengthen the seasonal worker program and establish a stable public foreign seasonal worker brokerage center to create a farming environment free from labor shortages."