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Salt farm owner, three associates charged for allegedly exploiting worker with intellectual disability

Published: 01 Dec. 2025, 17:52 Updated: 01 Dec. 2025, 17:54

The Gwangju High Prosecutors' Office and District Prosecutors' Office is pictured in this undated file photo. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Prosecutors charged a salt farm owner in South Jeolla and three associates for allegedly forcing a worker with an intellectual disability to work for 10 years while taking his wages, officials said Monday.

The owner exploited the victim at his salt farm in Shinan County, South Jeolla, from April 2014 to August 2024, diverting about 96 million won ($65,000) in wages, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said the owner tried to avoid scrutiny by transferring money into the victim’s bank account, as if to pay him, but his family used the account.

The owner’s younger sibling is accused of withdrawing 45 million won from the victim’s account after fabricating a lease contract and labeling it as a rental deposit. The sibling allegedly spent the money on stock investments and later returned it when the case surfaced.

A real estate rental firm head, who also manages a nursing home, allegedly took 90 million won from the victim’s account as a supposed hospital deposit while the victim was admitted at the nursing home, then withdrew another 20 million won across six transactions.

The owner’s acquaintance allegedly collected 10.5 million won from him across four occasions after claiming they could halt the investigation.

Prosecutors said the acquaintance also obstructed the probe and told the owner to "persuade the authorities by telling them the victim does not want to be separated” and to "make sure the victim’s whereabouts do not become known.”

The Mokpo branch of the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office said it indicted the owner on charges including quasi-fraud and violations of the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities and detained him ahead of trial.

Quasi-fraud is the crime of taking advantage of the inexperience of a minor or the mental disorders of another, to take property or obtain pecuniary advantage from them.

The sibling and real estate firm head were indicted without detention on charges of quasi-fraud and embezzlement. The acquaintance was charged without detention with violating the Attorney-at-Law Act.

Authorities uncovered the case in 2023 during a nationwide review of working conditions at salt farms.

A prosecution official said investigators reviewed more than 180 recordings and analyzed bank and phone records to trace how those involved diverted the victim’s money and sought to avoid the investigation.

“Prosecutors will work to ensure the penalties match the crimes and will actively try to protect the victim’s rights," the official added.

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.
BY KIM EUN-BIN [[email protected]]