On the 8th, Cha Yong-ho, head of the Immigration and Foreigners Policy Headquarters at the Ministry of Justice, met with Riley Barnes, Deputy Minister of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), to discuss human rights issues concerning foreigners and workers.
The Ministry of Justice said on the 9th that it shared domestic human rights protection policies and improvement outcomes with the U.S. Department of State and stated accordingly. The Ministry of Justice recently inspected the conditions of seasonal foreign workers, detected human rights violations and ordered corrections, and established a Human Rights and Interests Team within the Immigration and Foreigners Policy Headquarters to strengthen whole-of-government coordination functions.
The Ministry of Justice is the lead agency for protecting immigrants' human rights. When a human rights violation occurs, it is dispatched to the scene to carry out swift relief activities and implements effective victim support measures. The U.S. Department of State's DRL is the bureau responsible for promoting democracy, protecting human rights, and improving labor rights worldwide.
Cha, the Deputy Minister, gave the U.S. side a detailed explanation of government policies, improvement efforts, and results so that human rights violations against foreign workers would not adversely affect international assessments.
Both sides plan to strengthen cooperation to prevent and protect against human rights violations of foreign workers. Minister Jung Sung-ho of the Ministry of Justice said, "The Ministry of Justice will play a central role in creating an environment where foreign workers are respected."