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Farms struggle to keep hands as seasonal workers dash to higher-paying jobs

Published: 25 Jul. 2025, 14:05

Foreign workers wearing Vietnamese headwear, or Non la, dig for potatoes at a farm in Gangeung, Gangwon, on July 23 in this photo unrelated to the story. [YONHAP]

A growing number of seasonal foreign workers are vanishing from job sites across rural Korea, deepening concerns among local governments. The disappearances are straining a national program that brings in short-term laborers from overseas to support the country’s aging farming and fishing communities.

Fourteen Thai nationals working on the E-8 seasonal worker visa vanished from a motel in Jangseong-eup, Jangseong County, on July 2, according to South Jeolla officials on Thursday. They had entered Korea on May 2 and were among 39 workers assigned to local farms.

The exodus is not limited to rural farmland. In Goheung County, South Jeolla, 78 out of 107 Vietnamese workers who entered in October of last year left their assigned workplaces by February, despite arriving through a formal agreement signed with the county.

The primary motivation behind these disappearances appears to be financial. Most workers flee in search of higher-paying jobs elsewhere in Korea. Some rely on brokers or mobile messenger apps to find new work or simply choose to overstay their visas, becoming undocumented migrants.

Korea’s foreign seasonal worker program invites residents from overseas municipalities with which local Korean governments have signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs). The program also allows married immigrants to invite relatives within four degrees of kinship. Workers can stay up to eight months, must remain in their assigned locations and are required to leave the country once their contracts end.

Foreign workers tend to highland vegetable fields in Gangneung, Gangwon, replanting and thinning crops on July 16., in this photo unrelated to the story. [YONHAP]

Ministry of Justice data shows a sharp rise in seasonal worker inflows: 1,085 in 2017, 12,027 in 2022, 32,837 in 2023 and 57,269 last year. The ministry allocated 95,429 workers for this year, with 53,940 having arrived by June.

As the number of incoming workers increases, so have unauthorized departures from assigned jobs. The number remained below 300 annually between 2017 and 2020 but spiked to 1,151 in 2022. In 2023, 925 workers left their assigned jobs prior to the end of their contracts, and 869 did so in 2024, prompting local governments to search for better oversight measures.

South Jeolla reported the most breaches of contract between 2021 and 2024 with 931 cases, followed by Gangwon with 814, North Jeolla with 576, North Gyeongsang with 405 and South Chungcheong with 155.

Foreign workers sort potatoes at a farm in Gangeung, Gangwon, on July 9 in this photo unrelated to the story. [YONHAP]

Analysts advise that municipalities need to take direct responsibility for management both domestically and overseas. High demand for jobs in Korea has led to reports of substantial under-the-table payments being exchanged abroad, even before workers arrive.

“Stricter oversight is necessary not only in Korea, but also at the source,” said Park Chang-deok, head of cooperation and exchange at the Korea Immigration Professional Association.

South Gyeongsang offers a potential model. From the outset, the province emphasized direct management by its 16 cities and counties, leading to a steep decline in breaches of contract. The province’s seasonal worker absentee rate dropped from 6.6 percent in 2022 to 1.6 percent in 2023, and further to 0.8 percent last year, nearly half the national average of 1.5 percent.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY CHOI KYEONG-HO,HWANG HEE-GYU,KIM MIN-JU [[email protected]]