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Ministers Han Dong-hoon of the Ministry of Justice and Jung Hwang-geun of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs jointly announced the “Improvement Plan for the Foreign Seasonal Workers System” on the 30th at the Government Seoul Office. The plan aims to alleviate rural labor shortage by extending the stay period for seasonal workers from 5 months to 8 months.

The seasonal workers system has been a “legitimate” platform to flexible supply foreign labor during the agricultural seasons. However, there have been criticisms that the efficiency of the system is compromised due to the short stay period of 5 months. Through this improvement, the Ministry of Justice has allowed an extension of the stay period for seasonal workers within a range of 3 months once (allowing a maximum stay of 8 months) in response to suggestions from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and local governments. The ministry also considered standards from European countries.

This standard will be retrospectively applied not only to new entrants but also to seasonal workers currently residing in the country. The Ministry is currently working on revising the regulations. The longer the stay period, the more the resident population in the country will increase. Additionally, it is expected that foreign nationals will become more familiar with agricultural labor in Korea, which would improve labor efficiency upon re-entry into the country.

Minister Han Dong-hoon has also revealed an incentive plan linked to the seasonal workers system. He stated, “We are considering granting long-term residency qualifications to those who have obeyed Korea’s rules by working for 8 months, returning to their home country, and then coming back again to work for another 8 months. We want to utilize the seasonal workers system to accept foreign workers who adhere to our rules.”

Minister Jung Hwang-geun mentioned various policies introduced by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to alleviate rural labor shortages, such as the public seasonal labor program, expansion of agricultural labor intermediation centers, and online recruitment of agricultural workers. He stated, “With these efforts, it is estimated that the agricultural labor cost in rural areas is similar to last year or about 5,000 won lower. However, during the garlic and onion harvesting period, there is a concentrated demand for short-term labor. Due to the difficulty in utilizing foreign labor in such fields, we are actively resolving the issue through various methods in cooperation with the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation.”

However, it seems unlikely that extending the stay period for seasonal workers will drastically improve the rural labor shortage. Out of the foreign workers being present on agricultural sites, seasonal workers and other “legal” workers account for only about 10% of the total labor force. Contrary to Minister Jung’s statement, most of the garlic and onion harvesting sites facing an emergency situation are filled with unregistered foreign workers.

Nevertheless, the Ministry of Justice’s emphasis on “stringent responses to unregistered foreign workers” remains consistent. Minister Han stated, “We need to send a message that we prioritize those who follow the rules and the law by giving them benefits. Therefore, we must take a firm stance on illegal activities, and this will not change in the future.” However, he also stated that the crackdown on illegal residents takes into consideration the labor shortage in rural areas. The approach to apprehending illegal residents is not solely based on the perspective of catching criminals and allows for various policy judgments. He emphasized the need to consider the circumstances of farmers and thus adjust the level of crackdown as flexible as possible.

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외국인 계절근로자 체류기간 ‘5개월→8개월’ 확대 | View original article

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