Jinan-gun, Construction of 'Agricultural Workers' Dormitory'

Establishing a Foundation for Securing Excellent Foreign Seasonal Workers
"Best Efforts in Agricultural Workforce Supply... Also Improving Treatment"

On the 20th, Jinan-gun, Jeonbuk Province held a completion ceremony for the 'Agricultural Workers Dormitory' to create a safe and comfortable living space for foreign seasonal workers.

According to the county, about 100 people attended the ceremony, including Jeon Chun-seong, Jinan-gun Governor, Dong Chang-ok, Chairman of the Jinan County Council, Kim Jong-hoon, Vice Governor of Jeonbuk Province for Economic Affairs, Jeon Yong-tae, Provincial Assembly member, the Foreign Seasonal Worker Employment Business Owners Council, and foreign seasonal workers currently working in Jinan.

Dormitory for Agricultural Workers in Jinan-gun. Provided by Jinan-gun

The newly completed agricultural workers dormitory was selected through a Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries public contest and was built in Danyang-ri, Jinan-eup, with a total project cost of 2.361 billion KRW. It is a two-story building with a total floor area of 257.3㎡. The first floor includes a communal kitchen, communal laundry room, and three dormitory rooms, while the second floor has a duty room and seven dormitory rooms, accommodating up to 40 people. It is designed for both public and farm-type seasonal workers to live together. The dormitory is scheduled to begin operation in April next year, coinciding with the start of the busy farming season.

So far, the county has signed an agreement with the Philippines and introduced legal short-term foreign seasonal workers by inviting family members within four degrees of kinship of marriage immigrants residing in the area: 155 in 2022, 390 last year, and 582 this year, placing them in farms.

To support this, the county remodeled three shared accommodations in Maryeong, Donghyang, and Ancheon through its own joint lodging construction project for workers to use. For public-type seasonal workers, four regional shared accommodations (Sangjeon, Baegun, Maryeong, and Bugwi-myeon) were distributed to provide convenient access for farms. With the operation of the newly built agricultural workers dormitory, it is expected that many excellent foreign seasonal workers will come to Jinan-gun, solving the housing issues for these workers.

Jeon Chun-seong, Jinan-gun Governor, said, "With the construction of the agricultural workers dormitory, working conditions will improve, and we hope that excellent workers will come to Jinan to increase farm income." He added, "We will continue to do our best to secure labor during the farming season so that no farming is left undone due to lack of workers, and support stable and planned farming by improving workers' treatment and assisting farms."

Kim Jong-hoon, Vice Governor of Jeonbuk Province for Economic Affairs, said, "I understand that Jinan-gun operates the foreign seasonal worker program better than anywhere else in the country. With the completion of the agricultural workers dormitory, I hope foreign seasonal workers can live more comfortably."