Amid a surge in demand for seasonal foreign workers, the government has established a legal basis to support and manage local governments through specialized agencies.
On the 3rd, a partial amendment to the 'Immigration Control Act' introduced by People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Sang-bum passed the National Assembly plenary session. Accordingly, the operation of the seasonal worker system has been clearly defined in law, surpassing the level of existing enforcement decrees and guidelines.
The key point of this amendment is that the specialized agencies can support the selection, immigration, and training of foreign seasonal workers coming through business agreements (MOU) between domestic and foreign local governments.
In some local governments where there has been a lack of manpower and expertise, brokers have intervened, demanding excessive fees from seasonal workers or causing human rights violations, leading to continuous side effects. The amendment includes a national-level management and supervision system that can improve these issues and provides grounds for punishing broker involvement.
The seasonal worker system has rapidly expanded since it was introduced as a pilot project in 2015, responding to the decline in rural population and labor shortages. In fact, the annual number of workers introduced, which stood at 7,340 in 2021, exceeded 67,000 in 2024.
However, with weak legal foundations, issues such as instability in the operation of the system, inadequacies in its structure, illegal broker involvement, and violations of workers' rights have been continuously raised.
Lawmaker Yoo noted, "By clearly defining the system that has relied on enforcement decrees and guidelines in law and establishing grounds to block broker involvement, it will be practically helpful in reducing confusion and side effects on site," and he added, "I will continue to listen to the voices from rural areas and push ahead with legislation and policies that truly fit the reality."