On June 24 last year, a fire at the Arisell lithium battery manufacturing plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, resulted in the deaths of 18 foreign workers, including 17 Chinese nationals and 1 Laotian. Many pointed out that this incident was a man-made disaster due to poor management of foreign workers. Most of the visas held by the deceased foreigners were excluded from the 'mandatory pre-employment safety training,' which meant they did not receive adequate safety training before being assigned to risky work environments.
Among the deceased foreign workers, 11 entered the country on F-4 overseas Korean visas, while others held H-2 visiting employment visas, F-6 marriage immigration visas, and F-5 permanent resident visas. At the time, the mandatory pre-employment safety training was limited to holders of E-9 employment permission visas and H-2 visas.
Even prior to the accident, there were many arguments for expanding the mandatory safety training target to include various visa holders working in the manufacturing sector. However, implementation was not feasible due to the division of responsible government departments by visa type.
The Ministry of Justice is responsible for F visas, while the Ministry of Employment and Labor oversees E-9 and H-2 visas. Following the Arisell incident, the government announced in August last year that it would expand the mandatory safety training target to include all foreign workers holding F visas.
Although the number of foreign workers in Korea exceeded 1 million last year, criticisms have arisen regarding the fragmented management of these workers by the government, leading to overlaps in duties and confusion between departments. It is deemed essential to establish a unified control tower dedicated to managing foreign policies in order to efficiently handle foreign workforce management.
Currently, the Ministry of Justice handles immigration control and refugee screenings, while the Ministry of Employment and Labor oversees the employment permission system and foreign hiring. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety, along with local governments, is responsible for supporting the settlement of immigrants and foreign workers.
International students fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, while matters related to attracting talented professionals are handled by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. In addition, support for multicultural families is delegated to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, overseas Korean exchange support is managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and issues related to foreign crimes are under the purview of the Korean National Police Agency.
Since different government departments oversee foreign workers, there are often confusions surrounding policy directions. For foreign students, the Ministry of Education has actively set a goal to attract 300,000 international students by 2027, while the Ministry of Justice is tightening visa issuance requirements to manage illegal overstayers.
In the field, there are significant grievances due to the fragmented management of foreign labor by different departments. In the fishing industry, where there is a high demand for foreign workers, those working on fishing vessels of 20 tons or more must hold E-10 seafarer employment visas, while vessels under 20 tons must hire E-9 visa holders.
If the fishery worker also engages in seafood processing and hires foreign workers for short-term work, E-8 seasonal worker visa holders are the target. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries oversees E-10 visas, the Ministry of Employment and Labor is in charge of E-9 visas, and the Ministry of Justice handles E-8 visas.
As calls for establishing a comprehensive control tower for foreign policies have increased, the Ministry of Justice under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration pursued the creation of an immigration agency led by Minister Han Dong-hoon. However, the immigration agency establishment bill proposed by the ruling People Power Party was automatically discarded with the expiration of the 21st National Assembly in February last year.
In June last year, the Office for Government Policy Coordination announced 'foreign labor management measures' at a ministerial meeting chaired by former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. These measures included defining the total quota for non-professional employment visas such as E-8, E-9, and E-10, and establishing a 'Foreign and Multicultural Policy Commission' (tentative) chaired by the Prime Minister as a control tower for foreign policy.
As a follow-up to the announcement, last December the government confirmed that the total quota for issuing non-professional employment visas this year would be set at 207,000. However, the establishment of the Foreign and Multicultural Policy Commission, which was central to the policy, effectively fell through after former President Yoon Suk-yeol's declaration of a state of emergency and the National Assembly's impeachment resolution, leading to the inauguration of the Lee Jae-myung administration in June.
Despite a change in administration, there are many voices calling for the continued development of a control tower for foreign labor. This is due to the lack of smooth information sharing between departments, which hinders effective management.
A government official noted, 'Currently, the national agenda includes only a broad direction of 'integrated support for all foreign workers,' while specific institutional development plans are intended to be pursued in the long term through the enactment of relevant fundamental laws or amendments to foreign labor laws.'
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