Gimje-si's 'Foreign Seasonal Workers' Bring Relief to Rural Labor Shortage

Public Seasonal Workers Can Be Employed Daily... Increased Farmer Satisfaction

Monitoring Work Environment for Human Rights Violations of Regular Workers '0% Attrition Rate'

Jeonbuk Gimje City (Mayor Jeong Seong-ju) announced on the 9th that the foreign seasonal worker program plays a crucial role in addressing the labor shortage caused by the declining rural population and aging farming households.

According to the city, the foreign seasonal worker program operates a legal employment system for foreigners for up to eight months, receiving great support from citizens. Workers were introduced through relatives within the fourth degree of kinship of marriage immigrants' home countries. Employment at farms and public seasonal work are combined to supply rural labor in agricultural fields. With continuous monitoring of workers' human rights and working conditions, the program has achieved a 0% dropout rate and is recognized as a model operation case by other local governments.

On July 1st, Gimje-si, Jeonbuk, provided preliminary training on the overall management of seasonal workers to employers of foreign seasonal workers. [Photo by Gimje-si]

Farm employment involves registered agricultural management entities providing foreign workers with accommodations that meet appropriate living conditions and guaranteeing minimum wages. The public seasonal work project is operated by the Nonghyup (National Agricultural Cooperative Federation), which employs foreign seasonal workers. The operation provides labor to farms on a daily basis, and farms pay a usage fee.

The city has focused on the public seasonal work national contest project to resolve the chronic labor shortage in rural areas. This year, it achieved the remarkable feat of being selected for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' first contest project. Gongdeok Nonghyup and Dong Gimje Nonghyup were selected as operating entities, the only two in Jeonbuk. Since May, a total of 40 Vietnamese workers, 20 each, have been deployed to agricultural sites, supplying 2,041 rural workers to 668 farms over approximately three months.

Domestic laborers were also recruited. Dong Gimje Nonghyup has been selected for the contest project for four consecutive years and operates a Rural Labor Brokerage Center (rural type) that mediates and introduces labor to farms with labor shortages, supplying domestic labor during peak farming seasons.

The usage fee for farms participating in the public seasonal work program is 110,000 KRW. This is up to 50,000 KRW cheaper than private labor brokerage offices during peak farming seasons. This contributes to suppressing rising labor costs in rural areas and reducing farm management expenses. Moreover, timely work during peak seasons is possible, earning great support from farms.

Meanwhile, as of August this year, the city has been allocated a total of 437 workers by the Ministry of Justice, with 256 currently working at 68 farms. Foreign workers are expected to gradually enter the country by December this year after consultations with farms and administrative procedures. This is anticipated to help alleviate the rural labor shortage.

Mayor Jeong Seong-ju stated, "Foreign seasonal workers are essential personnel for rural areas to solve the labor shortage during peak farming seasons caused by aging. In particular, the public seasonal work project supports small and medium-sized farms that require short-term labor employment. Along with administrative support, we will implement various labor supply policies to ensure stable farm management."