Korea opens 1566-3151 hotline for foreign sailors

By Lee Han-soo

The Korea Seafarer’s Welfare and Employment Center will operate a help desk hotline for foreign sailors starting on Friday.

The move aims to protect the interests and improve the human rights of the increasing number of foreign sailors here.

As of last year, 23,307 foreigners were working for South Korean marine companies

The center also provides mediators to help solve any cultural conflict between sailors and their company.

The center also provides interpreters in Chinese, Indonesian and Vietnamese and helped in 531 cases last year.

The hotline is 1566-3151 or +8251-911-3151 for international callers.

It will be open from Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

An audio response system (ARS) will be available after 6:00 p.m.