Jung Da-hyun is a reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues in Korea, including foreign residents, education, environment and politics. Driven by a deep interest in people’s stories, she focuses on investigative and feature reporting through direct interviews and field coverage. She received the Amnesty International Korea Media Award for her “Deepfake Crisis at Schools” series. Reach her at dahyun08@koreatimes.co.kr. Always open to hearing your stories.
UN committee slams Korea's treatment of migrants, foreign workers
Members of the Migrants' Trade Union call for the right to change employers and against the outsourcing of hazardous work to migrant workers during a rally near Bosingak Pavilion in Jongno District, central Seoul, April 27, ahead of International Workers' Day. Yonhap
By Jung Da-hyun
Rights watchdog criticized for failing to act on racism, labor exploitation
A rise in hate speech and the mistreatment of migrants and foreign workers in Korea is drawing heightened international scrutiny. A U.N. committee has voiced concerns over the country’s response to racial discrimination and, for the first time, criticized the country's national human rights watchdog for failing to take effective steps.
The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) recently released a report highlighting the growing prevalence of racist rhetoric both online and offline. It noted that migrants, asylum-seekers, refugees, Muslims and individuals of Chinese descent are increasingly being targeted.
Since joining the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 1978, Korea has undergone regular U.N. reviews to assess its compliance. This year’s review was the first since December 2018.
The committee also criticized the National Human Rights Commission of Korea for lacking effective measures to address these growing issues.
This marks a significant warning for Korea, as it is the first time the committee has directly criticized the national human rights watchdog for its shortcomings in addressing racial discrimination.
Among the most pressing concerns highlighted in the report is the systemic exploitation of migrant workers.
The committee pointed to several troubling disparities: unpaid wages occurring at more than three times the rate of Korean nationals, substandard housing with nearly half of all migrant workers living in nonresidential facilities and an industrial accident death rate nearly twice that of local workers.
All human trafficking cases officially recognized by the government in recent years have involved foreign workers, with most victims subjected to labor exploitation, including delayed wage payments, according to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.
The number of confirmed cases has been on the rise from three in 2023 to 12 in 2024, with another 12 reported in just the first four months of 2025.
CERD also expressed concerns over the heightened vulnerability of migrant workers in Korea, who are often employed in high-risk sectors. It highlighted that their fatality rate from industrial accidents is twice that of Korean nationals, while access to workers’ compensation remains limited and support systems for victims are still insufficient.
Citing a 2024 survey by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the committee highlighted that 6.7 percent of foreign workers in the agricultural sector were living in nonresidential structures. It also pointed out that a construction certification system introduced after the death of a migrant worker living in a greenhouse in December 2020 has been poorly enforced.
Amid escalating discrimination and hate toward migrants in Korea, the committee pointed to incidents such as community backlash against the construction of a mosque in Daegu and viral videos depicting the detention and abuse of undocumented migrants, criticizing the government for its failure to take effective action.
The mosque controversy in Daegu began in December 2020, when Muslim students at Kyungpook National University, citing the cramped conditions of a residential building they had long used for prayer, obtained a permit to build a mosque in a nearby residential neighborhood. The project faced strong opposition from local residents, leading to an ongoing standoff.
In response, CERD urged the government to address racist and xenophobic hate speech in the media, on the internet and on social media, calling for close cooperation with media outlets and the establishment of independent and effective monitoring systems.
The committee further flagged a series of systemic issues, including the excessive penalization of undocumented migrants, prolonged delays and restrictions in Korea's screening process for refugees, insufficient guarantees for migrant children's right to education and the absence of legislation to protect stateless individuals.
It also criticized the national human rights watchdog, citing concerns that its prolonged failure to establish an independent and unified body for appointing commissioners has significantly weakened both its effectiveness and its ties with civil society.