[Column] Foreign Worker Management Policies Difficult Even for Koreans to Understand

Increasing the Quota for Foreign Workers Won't Solve the Problem

"You can find detailed information by visiting Hi Korea, so please refer to it."

This was the response I received when I called the Ministry of Justice Customer Support Center to inquire about visa information related to foreign workers. Hi Korea is a website where foreigners can access online civil service, immigration, employment, investment guidance, and civil document information. However, when I entered Hi Korea, I had to search for a long time to find the section I was looking for. If it is this difficult for Koreans, I wondered how hard it must be for foreigners. Language support was only available in English and Chinese.

The same applies when trying to understand the differences between visa types that foreign workers need to know, or the documents and materials required for visa changes. Since different ministries such as the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries manage different visa types, a complicated search process is needed to confirm information. Discussions about establishing an Immigration Office to integrate the management of foreign workers have been ongoing since 2004, but progress is still at a standstill. Overlapping responsibilities and blind spots have occurred among ministries.

If a foreign worker does not have close Korean colleagues at their workplace or if the employer does not take care of them, managing visas is not easy. One foreign worker I met at the Goyang City Integrated Immigrant Center, who has lived in Korea for eight years, complained that applying for the social integration program is very difficult. For foreign workers with poor Korean skills, the structure makes it easy to miss visa extensions. They could unknowingly become undocumented immigrants.

Proper management of foreigners is an urgent task to utilize them appropriately. However, due to the current situation, as of the end of last year, the number of undocumented foreigners in Korea reached 423,675, more than double the 208,778 in 2014.

To properly manage foreign workers, it is necessary to identify how many workers are needed in which industries and job roles, but the government is only focused on bringing in foreign workers with low wages to fill vacant positions. The task of understanding how labor markets are structured and operate nationwide and regionally, and which jobs are lacking, has been omitted.

If foreign worker quotas are increased arbitrarily just because the jobs are ones Koreans avoid or because it is difficult to match salaries, might there not be side effects?

Industries and jobs with many foreign workers tend to be avoided by Koreans due to prejudice that they involve cheap labor and poor working conditions. This is why voices supporting equal pay and treatment for Koreans and foreigners performing the same work are gaining strength from a long-term perspective. To improve job conditions for Koreans, the jobs held by foreign workers must also be improved.

If the industrial and corporate environment improves and working conditions and treatment are enhanced, workers will naturally gather. Government interest, support, and investment should be focused on these areas.