As the productive population is decreasing and people are increasingly avoiding hard work, the number of workers in the field is becoming increasingly scarce. Therefore, the government has decided to increase the number of migrant workers to be introduced next year to 120,000. However, it was found that migrant workers do not receive the money they are owed and that the amount taken from them amounts to 120 billion won per year. Although the overall number of workers in Korea with unpaid wages is steadily decreasing, the number of migrant workers who do not receive their money on time is not decreasing at all.
Reporter Cho Eul-seon covered the reality of migrant workers who came to Korea to make money but were forced to leave as if their money was taken away.
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Mr. Augusto from East Timor has worked at a fish farm in Gunsan for 5안전놀이터 years and 9 months since 2016.
But the fish farm owner did not pay him 13 million won in wages.
He did not receive insurance money because he was not covered by the mandatory wage arrears guarantee insurance.
Since the permitted period of stay has ended, I am unable to work anywhere else and am stranded.
[August/Migrant Worker: I didn’t receive my salary. My wife and son have nothing to eat. My heart breaks.]
A Cambodian migrant worker who worked at a perilla leaf farm in Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-do for three years from 2017, taking only two days off a month, was also deducted 12 million won in wages.
Although the lawsuit was won, enforcement is not possible because the farm owner’s assets have not been confirmed.
[Migrant worker: I work 11 hours a day, 11 hours. I only eat for 1 hour during lunch time. The boss doesn’t even calculate the salary properly. It was very difficult and I am upset.]
Korea, the world’s 10th largest economy, has become a country that siphons off the wages of migrant workers who sweat and endure poor working conditions by 120 billion won a year.
Although there are protection measures such as guarantee insurance and government payment, there are significant institutional loopholes, such as business owners who do not have guarantee insurance can be fined, and small-scale agricultural and fishery businesses with less than 5 employees cannot even apply for payment.
[Choi Jeong-gyu/Attorney: I came here trusting the Korean government, and since the Korean government told me to work here and I cannot receive wages from the workplace, the Korean government should also create protection measures in this area so that something like this does not happen.]