The migrant worker issue: a starting point for social debate

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The migrant worker issue: a starting point for social debate

Published: 15 Sep. 2025, 00:05

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Won Ok-kum

The author is a representative of the Migrant Center Donghaeng and is originally from Vietnam.

Migrant workers are quietly present across Korean society. They put food on our tables, they're in the rhythms of factories, the labor of rural fields and the streets we walk each day. Yet they are often not fully recognized as “workers.” Their voices are rarely heard, and when they are, they fade quickly.

As I noted in a previous essay, the gap between contracts and reality for migrant seafarers is glaring. Double contracts, off-the-books payments and missing compensation after accidents are common. Requests to transfer to another workplace because of unfair conditions are often met with demands for hundreds of thousands of won by employers. Even when wages are withheld, employers sometimes insist on paying only what the contract states, not what was actually earned. Migrant workers who need medical treatment cannot take time off or change jobs without employer approval. Such violations of basic rights continue to repeat.

Migrant workers are seen at the multicultural food street in Danwon District, Ansan, Gyeonggi, on July 29. [JOONGANG SUNDAY]

There has been a recent shift. President Lee Jae Myung raised the issue of wage arrears in Cabinet and senior-level meetings, calling for a systematic investigation into abuses affecting foreign workers. Earlier, following the widely publicized “forklift abuse case,” he had pledged to punish employers who mistreat migrant laborers. His latest comments, including the suggestion that workers should be allowed to remain in Korea until their unpaid wages are settled, point to a willingness to address gaps in current policy.

For migrant workers, the president’s words carry weight. For years, they have shouted against injustice without hearing an answer. Now there seems to be a political and social space to debate these issues. That shift alone brings encouragement.

The question is what must be discussed to resolve wage arrears and other abuses. Solutions have been proposed in the past, but rarely considered seriously by the government. Responses have been piecemeal, limited to moments when public pressure grew intense. What is needed now is a sustained and serious social debate. While broader attitudes toward migrant workers in Korean society must improve, several immediate steps could reduce exploitation.

First, the law should automatically suspend deportation for workers whose wages are unpaid. If an employer is found to have withheld wages, the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Ministry of Justice should be required to coordinate so that the worker’s departure date is delayed until payment is secured.

Second, reporting systems must be improved. The government should conduct regular surveys on wage arrears and mistreatment of foreign workers and make it simple to file complaints. This requires collaboration between government agencies and migrant support organizations to build an evidence-based reporting process that can be applied in practice.

Third, procedures for changing workplaces must be streamlined. In theory, workers can change jobs without employer consent, but in practice, this is rarely possible. Access to free legal counseling, automatic transfers for workers at sites where violations are confirmed, and reforms to shorten processing times are needed. Ultimately, society must consider allowing migrant workers to change jobs freely. Restricting their mobility is a root cause of many problems.

Yet even the best-designed rules are meaningless without proper enforcement. Too often, investigations into wage arrears are superficial, and even when migrant workers endure months of hardship to collect evidence, labor inspectors side with employers and pressure workers to “settle.” Prosecution rates for employers who fail to pay wages remain low. This lax enforcement enables further abuses and deepens workers’ despair.

Migrant workers work at a potato field in Gangneung, Gangwon, wearing traditional Vietnamese hats, on July 23. [YONHAP]

Not every problem in a democracy can be solved by presidential decree. Still, when the president speaks, it adds weight that no civic group or advocacy campaign alone can carry. Government agencies with the authority and responsibility to act must now reflect both the president’s call and the voices from the field in concrete policy.

Migrant workers ask for little more than to be treated as equals — respected as human beings and fellow workers. It is time for government and society to listen. The president’s recent words can be the start of a new chapter, one that brings attention to some of the quietest and most overlooked voices in Korean society.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.