Hwaseong City Partners with Philippine General Luna to Support Shortage of Rural Labor

Signing of Agreement for Recruiting Foreign Seasonal Workers

Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province is establishing a cooperative system with General Luna City in Quezon Province, Philippines, to secure the insufficient rural workforce.

On the 15th, Hwaseong City announced on the 16th that it signed a 'Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Attraction of Foreign Seasonal Workers' with General Luna City at the central conference room of the city hall. The signing ceremony was attended by Hwaseong Mayor Jeong Myeong-geun and General Luna Mayor Florido Matt Irwin, among others.

Jeong Myeong-geun (left), Mayor of Hwaseong, and Florito Matt Irwin, General Luzon Mayor of the Philippines, are holding up the agreement document at the business agreement ceremony for attracting seasonal workers.
[Photo by Hwaseong City]

Through this agreement, General Luna City will cooperate to provide a stable workforce to Hwaseong's farms to address the seasonal rural labor shortage caused by the aging rural population during sowing and harvesting periods.

To this end, General Luna City will select and train suitable workers and support the necessary administrative procedures before their departure. Hwaseong City will provide counseling and guidance to the incoming foreign seasonal workers and strive to ensure compliance with working conditions, as well as protect and support the workers' human rights.

The city plans to conduct a demand survey targeting local farms next month and assign workers to farms starting from the first half of next year. The dispatched foreign seasonal workers will sign labor contracts with local farmers registered as agricultural management entities and work accordingly. The working period is five months, with a possible extension of three months.

Mayor Jeong said, "This agreement is an important first step to breathe new life into the agricultural sector in line with the launch of the special city in January next year," adding, "We expect it to greatly help resolve the rural labor shortage." Mayor Irwin also said, "We are pleased to contribute to solving Hwaseong's rural labor issues through the supply of foreign seasonal workers," and added, "Both cities will work closely to create a successful case."