By Park Jin-hai
Korean fishing vessels are finding hard time in drawing Southeast Asian sailors because of their notoriety for severe human rights violations, diplomatic sources said Thursday.
“Korea has emerged as one of the most shunned designations,” one diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
He said that the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative (NFFC), Korea’s fishing industry lobby that also serves as to import foreign manpower, is now virtually “begging source countries to send more sailors.”
Concerns over working conditions have been rampant since 2011, when a group of Indonesian sailors walked off the Sajo Oyang 75, a Korean-flagged vessel fishing in New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone.
Southeast Asians make up 30 percent of crews on boats, while more than 70 percent of crew on Korean trawlers in international waters are foreigners, according to the fisheries ministry data.
Another diplomat said that while abuses occur near Korea, the greater concern are the vessels that fish in international waters, where monitoring is more difficult.
“Long-line vessels have always been a problem, because they are cruising very far from home and entering so many jurisdictions,” he said.
“Nobody is watching and there’s little evidence of the abuse that would be legally binding.”
The ministry says it has worked to improve conditions on Korean boats by establishing a hotline for foreign crew.
He said rule of law is generally strong in Korea but called the fishing industry a “blind spot.”
He said the sailors’ work contracts are made between employment agencies at home and Korean companies, allowing plenty of room for malfeasance.
He opined that the Korean government should get directly involved in the process.
“In Japan, treatment of Southeast Asian crews has never been a big issue. Korea, as a major power in OECD, should make sure the fishing industry complies with international labor and human rights standards,” he said.