"I have also received job placements for people who tested positive for drugs from the Employment Support Center. After waiting for 2 to 3 months, I hired someone who had already been working for over a week when the positive result came out. I felt frustrated thinking about waiting several more months again."
Lee Mo (67), an executive at a ship parts manufacturing company in the Noaksan National Industrial Complex in Busan's Gangseo District, said, "I can't understand that the drug test result from my home country comes out only after starting work in Korea," and added, "Shouldn't at least criminals be filtered out?"
In relation to this, the Ministry of Employment and Labor stated, "If there is a criminal record, entry is not permitted, and drug testing is not under our jurisdiction." It also noted, "For the convenience of employers, drug tests are conducted at health examination institutions during employment training after entering the country, and if drug results come out while working, individuals can be forcibly deported." This means job placements can occur before the drug test results come out.
As the number of foreign workers in Korea increases and the United States strengthens its investigations into forced labor in Asia, the need for foreign manpower management is growing. However, the demand for illegal immigrants remains unchanged, which is attributed to the poor quality of legally entering foreign workers. It has been pointed out that the Korean language proficiency test can be taken by proxy, and there are cases where individuals enter Korea with false health statuses.
A person surnamed A, who operates a manufacturing company in Gyeonggi Province, recounted discovering that a newly hired foreign worker had broken arms and legs just two days after starting work. He said, "He was injured before coming to Korea, but he hid it just to get in. It doesn't make sense to work with broken arms and legs," and added, "If the government is bringing in manpower through a work permit system, there should be at least minimal verification." This worker returned to his home country immediately, but it took 2 to 3 months to hire new staff.
Employers receive information about candidates before hiring foreign workers, but the reliability of this information is relatively low. A representative of a manufacturing company, who wished to remain anonymous, said, "I hired a person, but it seemed like someone else showed up. When I asked, I found out the photo was wrong. When I complained to the Human Resources Development Service, the staff member said, 'I went to the local area, but they just raise anyone if you give them money without verification.'"
He stated, "Information about foreign workers is so unreliable that we are essentially at the mercy of luck. Therefore, even if we need one person, we hire three to ensure we have enough. Even if we hire generously, two out of the three will end up leaving anyway."
The Ministry of Labor reported, "We provide information to employers looking to hire foreign workers, including nationality, age, eyesight, photo, marital status, education, job type sought, desired wage, job validity period, Korean test score, experience, training, certificates, education, and interview videos."
However, employers say that cases where the information is blank are more common. Person A showed the screen that appears when selecting actual workers and said, "When selecting online without a visit, there are no photos. You can assume that any helpful information will be empty."
There is effectively no way to filter out false information. An Mo (65), who has been running a Korean restaurant in Cheongju's Sangdang District for over 15 years, said, "I hired someone who claimed to have several years of restaurant experience, but he had no experience at all. If I had known he had no experience, I would have hired someone else," emphasizing, "Incorrect information is worse than having no information."
An executive at a manufacturing company remarked, "I don't expect any experience. What's important is sincerity, and we're at the mercy of luck when we pick someone based on their appearance," adding, "If they provide education or tenure, we can at least indirectly gauge it."
A Ministry of Labor official noted, "We plan to improve the provision of verified experience and information."
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https://biz.chosun.com/tag/foreign-worker/