The Ministry of Employment and Labor and the police will launch a joint investigation into a case of unpaid wages for Philippine seasonal workers that occurred in Yanggu County, Gangwon Province. The government is said to have confirmed that brokers intervened between farms and workers to exploit wages.
According to the ministry on the 24th, the Gangwon District Labor Office and the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency formed a joint task force (TF) and signed a memorandum of understanding on the 19th to respond to the collective unpaid wages of Philippine seasonal workers in Yanggu County (90 people) and the case of intermediary exploitation.
The ministry previously formed a 14-member dedicated team in Jul. and began an investigation. After summoning brokers for questioning, analyzing account transaction histories, and questioning the representative complainant and 73 farmers, it booked the brokers on suspicion of violating Article 9 of the Labor Standards Act (elimination of intermediary exploitation).
The anti-corruption and economic crimes investigation unit of the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency, which is investigating alleged violations of the Employment Security Act, also secured related evidence through a search and seizure and is analyzing it. According to the police, the brokers are suspected of taking 1.5 billion won in fees by receiving seasonal workers' wages from farmers in 2023–2024.
The investigation is expected to pick up speed with this memorandum of understanding. The two agencies agreed to share investigative information and establish a cooperative system, including joint investigations of criminal suspects. The ministry is expanding the scope to see whether there are similar cases of intermediary exploitation in other rural areas.
With a recent rise in unpaid wages, harassment, and fatal accidents involving foreign workers, the government is responding across ministries. The police organized one team from each provincial and metropolitan police agency's mobile investigation unit and one violent crime team at each police station into dedicated teams for foreign workers' human rights violations.
The Ministry of Justice is pushing measures to ensure that undocumented migrants who suffer unpaid wages are not forcibly deported. Foreign nationals awaiting departure at immigration detention centers will also be temporarily released from detention if unpaid wages are confirmed. This is a follow-up measure related to the "measures against unpaid wages" discussed at the 40th Cabinet meeting chaired by the presidential office on the 2nd of this month.
At the time, President Lee Jae-myung said to the Ministry of Justice, "They say these people (undocumented migrants) are intentionally subjected to unpaid wages because if they are forcibly deported, they can forever get away with not paying (wages). Employers target that and say they themselves will report it. Withholding wages and reporting them to force deportation brings disgrace to the nation."
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries is responding to the Withhold Release Order (WRO) of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) under the Department of Homeland Security. CBP can issue a WRO to ban U.S. imports if it determines products were produced with forced labor. Once a WRO is issued, products are seized immediately upon arrival in the United States.
CBP issued a WRO in Apr., saying salt from Taepyong Salt Farm was produced with forced labor. The industry is voicing concern that there are many undocumented migrants at seaweed farms as well, and that CBP could block imports over the issue. An official at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said, "We are conducting joint inspections with the Ministry of Justice to see whether there are human trafficking activities such as unpaid wages and forced labor in the fisheries sector."
☞ Related articles
[Foreign labor in administrative blind spots]
https://biz.chosun.com/tag/foreign-worker/