Foreign workers running rings around hard-up farmers

Social Affairs

Published: 22 Aug. 2022, 16:40 Updated: 22 Aug. 2022, 20:25

Foreign workers running rings around hard-up farmers

A seasonal worker from the Philippines shakes hands with a Korean farmer last April after arriving in Yanggu County, Gangwon, for temporary work. [YANGGU COUNTY OFFICE]

Choi Jae-hwa was in a fix. Two workers were supposed to fly in from Nepal to pitch in at his potato farm in Gochang County, North Jeolla.

They arrived at his 4,950-square meter (1.22-acre) farm – but absconded overnight.

The 50-year-old farmer found some help at the Gochang County Office, but lost precious time. The potato price dropped and he suffered some 14 million won in losses.

But the thing that really burned him up, Choi told the JoongAng Ilbo, was a call he received shortly afterward.

“Hey sajangnim [sir], do you have work?” the caller said in broken Korean. He was clearly a foreigner. “Sajangnim, how much are you going to pay me?”

“I’ll give you 120,000 won per day,” Choi replied.

“Nope.”

“Okay, 130,000 won then.”

“Nope,” the caller repeated, and then hung up.

“We’re now in this really strange situation," Choi told the JoongAng Ilbo, "where these illegal immigrants are cherry-picking the Korean farms they want to work on.

“To hire them, we now have to pay them up to 150,000 won a day, which is killing us.”

The two Nepalese Choi hired were part of Korea's Seasonal Worker Program, in which the Ministry of Justice helps foreigners legally enter Korea during the busy farming and fishing seasons to offset the nation's chronic labor shortage.

But seven years into the program, Korean farmers say they're facing a new dilemma: the laborers taking advantage of the labor shortage in rural areas to demand higher wages.

Philippine migrant workers at a farm in Hongcheon County, Gangwon on July 27 [PARK JIN-HO]

Workers who arrive in Korea through the program are typically hired by Korean farmers for several months and receive about 2 million won per month on top of accommodation. Once their contracts expire, they’re required to return home.

The scheme is very popular with farmers, with demand usually outstripping supply. Among 5,332 seasonal workers who came to Korea from January to June this year, 2,578 were from the Philippines, 1,162 people from Vietnam, 662 from Nepal, 586 from Laos and 514 from Cambodia.

But many farmers who participate in the program say the biggest problem is workers with wandering eyes for better jobs. They escape the farms that have sponsored them for better-paying jobs on other farms or in factories. Rarely do they get caught.

Among 5,332 seasonal workers in the first half of this year, 300 ran away, according to data from the Justice Ministry. That's 5.6 percent.

Of the absconders, 150 were from the Philippines, 102 from Nepal, 34 from Vietnam, nine from Laos and five from Cambodia.

Many of these people stay in Korea as illegal immigrants. But the labor shortage continues, and they know better than anyone where jobs on farms are available.

A lot of farmers hire them despite their illegal visa status and extortionate demands because they’re the only option. Hiring Korean workers is either too expensive or just plain impossible because no one's willing to take such jobs.

This year’s seasonal workers were mainly hired by farms in North Jeolla, South Jeolla, Gangwon, North Gyeongsang and South Chungcheong, where the young population has been dwindling.

As of June, there were 394,414 illegal immigrants in Korea, the highest figure yet, according to data from the Justice Ministry.

A cherry tomato farmer in Buyeo, South Chungcheong, who wished to be identified only by his surname Im, hired three illegal immigrants last May. But on the day they were supposed to show up, they bailed.

Im called them and said he would pay each an additional 10,000 won more every day, but that didn't work. Days later, he heard they were hired at another farm that offered more money.

“We can’t hire Korean workers because they’re too expensive,” said Im. “The problem with foreigners is that they don’t keep their promises.”

As a solution, farmers in some rural areas are signing a pact not to pay foreign migrant workers more than a certain amount. In Yanggu County, Gangwon, the limit is 110,000 won to 120,000 won a day depending on the work.

“It’s really important for all farmers to be on the same page,” said Byeon Jae-mo, 57, a radish greens farmer in Yanggu County. “That’s how we can stop foreign workers from recklessly demanding higher wages.”

BY PARK JIN-HO, LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]