In late July this year, 91 seasonal workers from the Philippines who worked in a rural Province from 2023 to 2024 filed a complaint with the Ministry of Employment and Labor over unpaid wages. They claim illegal brokers (intermediaries) extorted part of their wages. Police investigations revealed that the brokers are suspected of embezzling approximately 1.5 billion won in wages from over 90 workers under the guise of fees. They argued that while foreign labor should be introduced through direct agreements between domestic and overseas local governments, brokers frequently intervene to collect illegal fees or steal wages.
Because of this incident, the Philippines has temporarily suspended sending seasonal workers to this region. This case has prompted a series of reports that have exposed serious flaws in the foreign seasonal worker program.
Civil society has consistently pointed out problems with the seasonal worker program. Key issues include the following: First, the recruitment, selection, and dispatch of migrant workers often involve external parties, such as brokers, leading to opaque and unfair employment processes. This frequently results in illegal fee collection and wage exploitation. Second, some employers force workers into overtime or forced labor and do not hesitate to engage in unfair treatment, such as discriminatory practices or substandard housing. Third, despite ongoing human rights violations, oversight by the government and local authorities is severely lacking. Some local governments even neglect these problems or tacitly condone them.
Regarding human rights violations in the seasonal worker system, another critical consideration is the structural flaws inherent in the system itself. Even Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program, widely regarded globally as having the highest levels of public accountability and transparency in its operation, has seen repeated reports of migrant worker exploitation and human rights abuses through international civil society organizations and international bodies. The government is completely disregarding these reports.
Numerous reports point out that, above all, the core feature of the seasonal worker system—ultra-short-term contracts (work permits) of less than one year—inevitably creates 'structural vulnerability'. Short-term contracts inevitably bind workers to a single employer, allowing the employer to exert complete control over wages, working conditions, healthcare, housing, and more. In other words, workers have minimal legal rights under these ultra-short contracts, leaving them entirely dependent on their employer. Ultimately, human rights violations occur not because of individual employers but within an environment that structurally tolerates such abuses.
Furthermore, the short stay period of less than one year leaves workers absolutely insufficient time to properly address unfair treatment, injuries, or illnesses. They must return home before treatment, litigation, or redress procedures conclude, making post-return responses uncertain and frequently interrupted. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that seasonal workers under ultra-short-term contracts face structural difficulties in receiving appropriate compensation for unfair treatment or industrial accidents.
Most domestic seasonal workers originate in Southeast Asian developing countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos, and Cambodia. They are often already perceived socially as lazy or untidy workers. The seasonal worker system, by employing them like short-term part-timers, risks further spreading the perception of them as 'disposable laborers'. Even Canada, known as a so-called 'multicultural' advanced nation, sees short-term migrant workers exposed to racial discrimination due to low social recognition. It is foreseeable that Korea could undergo a similar process.
Ultimately, even with institutional safeguards, the foreign seasonal worker program carries a high risk of structurally recurring human rights violations. Therefore, this program should be used only in truly unavoidable cases and in a highly restricted manner. However, the Ministry of Justice has persistently promoted and abused this system as if it were a rational business practice. Furthermore, related research institutions have turned a blind eye to the program's structural problems. Human rights violations against migrant workers will never be resolved through such approaches.
