A shipowner surnamed A, who operates three fishing boats on the east coast of Gangwon Province, noted that he had been investigated by the prosecution regarding his foreign crew members. The three fishing boats work together in the same fishing ground, during which foreign crew members moved between the boats.
A said, "Since two boats work together from both sides, there are times when they need to move back and forth. Although I was eventually found innocent after clarifying everything, prohibiting the movement of foreign crew members under a single company is something that shows a complete lack of understanding of the situation."
As the United States strengthens its investigation into forced labor practices, the need for proper management of foreign workers has increased. However, it is pointed out that some regulations regarding foreign workforce management do not accurately reflect the realities on the ground. In rural and fishing areas, it is often difficult to clearly distinguish business sites like in manufacturing industries, and many jobs have a seasonal nature, calling for recognition of these unique circumstances.
Currently, foreign workers legally working on fishing boats in Korea hold either the E-9 visa for general foreign workers or the E-10 visa for foreign crew members. Boats under 20 tons must employ foreign workers under the E-9 visa, while those over 20 tons must employ foreigners under the E-10 visa. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Ministry of Justice, as of the end of last year, there were a total of 34,926 foreign workers residing in Korea, including 13,282 with E-9 visas and 21,644 with E-10 visas.
The fishing industry points out that the process for foreign crew members to change their business sites should be more flexible. According to the 'Foreign Resident Guideline Manual' published by the Ministry of Justice, the business sites for foreign crew members are considered to be each individual fishing boat, not the company operated by the shipowner, as each boat has its own license number.
Foreign crew members on E-10 visas cannot change their business sites unless there are closures or layoffs of the boats. Even when moving between ships under the same shipowner, prior permission for the change of workplace must be obtained. A stated, "If something happens, I need to go help immediately, but that's not possible. The lack of flexibility is simply too much."
Foreign workers on E-9 visas can change their business sites up to three times during a stay of three years, but only if there are closures or layoffs of the business sites or if it becomes difficult to maintain normal work relationships.
Researcher Park Jin-kyu from the Fisheries Economic Research Institute said, "Moving between large boats (E-10) and small boats (E-9) is both a mix of visa management methods and poses safety issues due to different working methods. However, if the same visa applies to the same working method, there is a need to push for exceptions."
Rural areas face similar challenges with restrictions on the movement of foreign workers. For foreign seasonal workers introduced to assist farms during peak seasons, they can work in the countryside for a maximum of eight months, but changing workplaces is not possible unless there is a fault on the employer's side. If there was an agreement between the employer and the seasonal worker before registration, they can change workplaces, but it is still difficult once they have started working. Additional workplaces are also not permitted.
Seong Bo-gyeong, president of the Saemaul Council in Daegi-myeon, Changnyeong-gun, said, "In rural areas, the timing of work concentrated varies according to crops, and in Changnyeong, which mainly cultivates garlic and onions, work tends to be concentrated over a period of 4 to 5 days during specific times." He added, "Employers need to pay wages during periods when there isn't work, even though they may keep seasonal workers for several months, which is a significant burden for the farms."
Another rural official noted, "Foreigners come here to earn a little more money, but due to restrictions on changing business sites, they often find themselves just staying in their accommodations when there is no work, which is frustrating for them." It was mentioned that foreign seasonal workers receive wages at or near the minimum wage, but when there is no farm work, they prefer to work elsewhere for higher daily wages.
Since 2022, the government has been operating a public seasonal worker system where regional agricultural cooperatives can directly employ foreign seasonal workers and provide labor to farms in need on a daily basis. However, even these public seasonal workers are limited in where they can work to the locations of the regional cooperatives and are only being implemented in 90 out of the 1,110 regional cooperatives across the country.
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