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International Migration News - Volume #8 | |
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Korea: Guest Workers?
The ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) in December 2000 continued to struggle to turn foreign trainees into guest workers. The small- and medium-sized businesses that employ most of the trainees oppose the guest-worker concept, arguing that it will increase their costs. The Ministry of Labor Affairs said that the new system would not lead to hikes in wages nor cause social problems since foreign workers could only stay in the country for a maximum of three years. The number of foreigners in Korea surpassed 500,000 in fall 2000, including 154,000 Chinese; 87,000 US citizens; 40,000 Japanese; and 25,000 Taiwanese. The Justice Ministry reported that there were 172,501 illegal foreigners in Korea in 2000, up from 135,300 in 1999; half were Chinese, followed by eight percent Bangladeshi, seven percent Mongolian, and seven percent each Filipino and Thai. The Korean Sharing Movement has asked that the Korean government introduce a Korean language test for foreigners who want to work in the country. The KSM believes that a language test would reduce corruption by job placement agencies who take advantage of loopholes in the law to make large profits. KSM claimed that ethnic Koreans from China account for more than 60 percent of all foreign workers in Korea, but most of them are forced to pay seven to eight million won in commissions to brokers in order to guarantee their jobs. The KSM said that the proposed test will promote the study of Korean in foreign countries, especially in Southeast Asian nations and China, adding that it will also help lessen the discriminative and inhuman treatment for foreign workers in Korea. "Korean test proposed for foreign workers," Korea Times, December 7, 2000. | |
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