Korea opens doors further to foreign workers in shrinking rural industries

Migrant workers harvest potatoes in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, July 23, 2025. Yonhap

Faced with a demographic crisis that has left rural factories and farms increasingly hollowed out, Korea will allow small businesses in underpopulated regions to hire foreign workers, the Justice Ministry said Tuesday.

The pilot program, which takes effect this coming Monday, marks a significant departure from long-standing labor protections that required businesses to maintain a minimum number of Korean employees before they could look abroad for help. Under the new special provision, small enterprises and agricultural corporations in 89 designated regions may now hire one holder of a "regional talent" or F-2-R visa, regardless of whether they employ any Korean nationals.

The measure is the latest attempt by the government to breathe life into the country’s shrinking interior, where the twin pressures of a plummeting birthrate and an exodus of young people to Seoul have left the service and manufacturing sectors in a state of chronic paralysis.

“Many businesses in these dwindling communities have struggled to recruit any local workers at all,” the ministry said in a statement, noting that current restrictions had rendered the visa program practically unusable for the very businesses that needed it most.

To prevent the exploitation of the new system, the ministry is imposing strict qualifying hurdles: Businesses must have operated for at least three years and maintain annual sales of more than 100 million won ($74,000).

The initiative is part of a broader "2030 Immigration Policy Future Strategy" unveiled in March, reflecting a growing realization among policymakers that Korea’s economic survival may depend on its ability to integrate foreign residents. Unlike temporary labor programs, the F-2-R visa is aimed at non-Koreans with strong Korean-language skills and a willingness to settle long-term.

The pilot program is scheduled to run through the end of 2027. Government officials said they will evaluate the program’s impact on local economies and social cohesion before deciding whether to make the changes permanent.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.