By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter


Filipino employees who came to Korea in August work at a production line in Intersysco, a medium-sized company that manufactures mobile phone cases, in Puchon, west of Seoul, Friday.
/ Korea Times photo by Kim Hyun-tae


Four months have passed since South Korea introduced a new work permit system for foreign employees. The system aims to address labor shortages by recruiting foreign workers and resolving problems associated with undocumented workers.

Despite favorable reactions from both employers and foreign workers, however, the new system has not lead to significant results. Many obstacles exist in its implementation and only 9 percent of the planned number of employees have entered the country.

In August last year, the government began direct management and control of migrant workers through the employment permit system. It compiled lists of 25,000 workers from six Asian countries _ Mongolia, Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Foreigners willing to work in South Korea are required to learn about Korean culture and language in advance, being permitted to work for up to three years. They receive the same treatment as local employees, enjoying a variety of rights including membership of labor unions, industrial accident insurance and a guarantee of minimum wage.

Under the decade-old industrial trainee system, migrant workers have suffered from low wages and sometimes abuse due to their unstable job status as ``trainees.’’ In addition to providing employers with quality workers, the new system aims to prevent discrimination and stop brokers from encouraging foreign workers to transfer to new workplaces, thus becoming illegal aliens.

``Our Filipino workers work hard and well, and have adapted themselves to Korean culture quickly,’’ said Yoon Hong-sam, director of Intersysco, a company that produces and tests cell phone cases in Puchon, west of Seoul.

The company has five female and five male workers from the Philippines working under the employment permit system. Intersysco had 25-30 industrial trainees from Indonesia and China until 2003, but adopted the new system last year.

``Under the former system, we were provided with workers allocated by the authorities and had to accept some workers who were not qualified for our operations. But with the new system, we were provided with a list of 50 workers and selected 10 after considering their age, schooling and work careers,’’ Yoon said.

Yoon also said the migrant workers receive the same treatment as Koreans in terms of wages and other conditions. Though the industry worried about labor cost hikes, actual labor costs have not increased significantly as the company does not provide board and lodging to the workers, unlike industrial trainees.

Rommel Arjona, in first group of migrant workers to enter South Korea under the new system on Aug. 31 last year, is working at Intersysco.

``I came to Korea as there are more chances of getting jobs and I can get much more money here than in Manila,’’ the 29-year-old Filipino said.

He works for 12 hours a day with two days of holiday every month, receiving about 1.2 million won per month including all allowances. Arjona took a one-week course of work skills and basic Korean language and culture before arriving.

``Korean colleagues are very friendly, attentive and smart. I’m quite satisfied with my job now,’’ the former engineering instructor said.

The company plans to apply for more foreign workers in August this year when its another 15 migrant employees working with another type of work visa are scheduled to leave the country due to the expiration of their visas.

Industrial trainees sometimes left without notice for other workplaces offering slightly higher salaries. ``But as the new system works between governments and does not involve brokers, the workers don’t need to obtain large amounts of money for brokers. So I think foreign workers with the new system won’t leave their workplaces without notice or overstay their visas,’’ Yoon said.

The company is satisfied with their migrant workers and plans to renew the one-year contracts with them for two more years, the maximum period of stay. Arjona also said he is willing to work here for the permitted period.

However, despite the merits of the work permit system, with high marks from both employers and employees, some are experiencing hardships, mainly due to illegal aliens and some fundamental problems within the system.

The government expected to invite 25,000 workers last year, but only 2,204 migrant workers had entered the country as of Dec. 12, some 8.8 percent of the planned figure.

``Illegal migrant workers and the industrial trainee system running parallel with the new system are to blame for the lack of results with the new one,’’ Kwon Gi-seob, the Labor Ministry’s foreign workforce policy division director, said.

The nation’s industries need a total of some 420,000 foreign workers and research shows that the total demand is unlikely to increase. Since employers can still hire industrial trainees and illegal aliens, they do need to obtain workers through the new system, Kwon said.

Companies can hire workers overstaying their visas for cheaper wages due to their illegal status. And by law, firms taking advantage of the industrial trainee system are not allowed to hire workers through the work permit system, even though they may be short of workers.

``The authorities should persuade businesses to hire more foreign workers under the employment system rather than illegal workers and industrial trainees, even though it is not easy to do so,’’ Kwon said.

The more serious problem with the new work system is its structural flaws.

The Labor Ministry issued 3,651 permits for foreign workers after requests from employers, but the Justice Ministry rejected visas for 785 people, or 21.5 percent of the total, often after employers failed to meet the required conditions.

Some 309 applications were rejected after employers were found to have hired illegal migrant workers, while 176 were refused because the firms in question were still benefiting from the industrial trainee system.

Due to problems with employers, foreign workers who had taken Korean language courses in their countries and planned to come to Korea often get discouraged on the threshold of making contracts, building up a distrust of ``Korean dreams.’’

``Authorities concerned do not share information about the system with one another. As the Justice Ministry moves to crackdown on illegal foreigners, the Labor Ministry is issuing work permits without knowing the history of the workers or the companies concerning the employment of illegal workers,’’ Kwon said.

Demand for labor must be shifted from illegal migrant workers to those under the work permit system, Kwon stressed.

``The authorities should give heavier punishment to illegal foreign workers and those hiring them, and it is also important to improve the work permit system itself. Then people will not seek illegal workers and turn to the new system instead,’’ Kwon said.

He also indicated that the ministries have to reduce the amount of time needed in the process from attracting workers to issuing visas, which is now about three months.

``Authorities also have to share all information required by the working system to ensure its efficiency and successful implementation,’’ Kwon said.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr