Incheon foreigners suffer legal services shortage

China Town in Incheon / Courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization

By Ko Dong-hwan

Incheon is failing to cater for its rising population of foreigners because the city does not have enough designated lawyers to meet the demand.

The international port city on Korea’s west coast has just nine designated lawyers to help 61,254 foreign residents (as of September).

This was an increase of nearly 4,000 from 2015 when the Ministry of Justice introduced the policy to help foreigners nationwide with a total of 201 dedicated lawyers spread across different cities.

Most foreigners in Incheon are laborers, who often face legal issues like filing complaints about unpaid wages, signing rental contracts or immigration matters.

“We need additional lawyers for foreigners who have language problems and experience disadvantages due to lack of legal knowledge,” an Incheon Migrant Workers Center official said.

One of the Incheon’s designated lawyers for foreigners said, “We are inundated with requests from the justice ministry’s call center to help foreigners on legal issues, but our limited staff cannot handle all those calls.”

The number of Incheon lawyers is unrealistic considering the city’s comparatively large population of foreigners.

The city is the home of the Incheon Free Economic Zone, China Town tourism district and many industrial companies with international partnerships.

In Seoul, 57 dedicated lawyers help more than 116,000 foreign residents (as of September), most of whom are in Korea on business contracts.