Task force launched to investigate overdue wages for 91 Filipino workers

Foreign workers work at a farm in Yecheon, North Gyeongsang Province, in this 2020 photo. The government has announced the launch of an immediate investigation into a major wage nonpayment case involving 91 Filipino workers at a farm in Yanggu, Gangwon Province. Korea Times photo by Lee Yong-ho

The government has launched an investigation into a major wage nonpayment case involving 91 Filipino workers at a farm in Yanggu, Gangwon Province.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor said Friday that it directed officials at its regional office there to establish a task force dedicated to investigating the incident, just one day after a complaint about it was formally received.

The team is expected to begin on-site investigations in the coming days to find out why and how the mass wage delays occurred, the ministry said.

“With more than 90 foreign workers involved, we are committed to a swift and thorough investigation,” an official said. “Our aim is to secure the workers’ rights and to deliver justice as quickly as possible.”

Beyond wage theft, the ministry is also looking into the involvement of a broker agency that allegedly charged excessive fees to the Filipino workers. The agency is suspected of violating the Labor Standards Act by engaging in illicit profit-taking, according to the ministry.

Article 9 of the law states, “No person shall intervene in the employment of another person for making a profit or gain benefit as an intermediary, unless otherwise prescribed by any Act.”

According to officials, the workers came to Korea through the seasonal worker program, a government-regulated initiative allowing foreign workers to legally work for a limited period (typically three to five months) in the nation’s farming and fishing industries to address chronic labor shortages during peak seasons.

Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon vowed to step up efforts to prevent such “shameful” cases.

“Foreign laborers in rural regions are not merely auxiliary manpower to solve workforce shortages here ― they are our neighbors, working alongside us,” he said. “We will rigorously investigate the case and hold those responsible accountable so that such shameful incidents never occur again.”

The incident sheds new light on the persistent vulnerabilities faced by migrant workers and underscores a growing government commitment to cracking down on wage theft and labor exploitation targeting these people.

After a viral video showing a Sri Lankan worker bound to cargo and lifted by a forklift while being mocked by co-workers in Naju, South Jeolla Province, President Lee Jae Myung shared the video on his social media page on July 24 and criticized the incident as a “barbaric human rights abuse,” pledging to redouble efforts to better protect such workers.