1st foreign slaughterhouse workers enter Korea under new visa program

A worker sprays water inside a livestock facility in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, in this file photo from July 30, 2025. Korea has admitted its first group of foreign slaughterhouse workers, as part of its efforts to address chronic labor shortages and an aging workforce in the sector. Newsis

Korea admitted its first group of foreign slaughterhouse workers, as part of its efforts to address chronic labor shortages and an aging workforce in the sector.

The Ministry of Justice announced Tuesday that 12 foreign workers entered Korea under the E-7-3 skilled worker visa designated for slaughterhouse technicians. This is the first time noncitizens have been deployed in that industry through a formal visa channel.

Officials said the policy shift is expected to help ease labor shortages while contributing to the stable supply of livestock products and helping to contain food prices.

For many years, slaughterhouses have struggled to attract young Korean workers due to demanding physical labor, harsh working conditions and negative social perceptions of the job. As the workforce in the sector aged rapidly amid the nation’s persistently low birthrate, business owners have called for the introduction of skilled foreign labor in recent years.

In response, government officials held consultations through the Visa and Residence Policy Council, which decided in September 2025 to introduce a new visa category specifically for slaughterhouse workers.

Under the new system, applicants for the visa must obtain an employment recommendation from the livestock distribution team at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. They are also required to have completed training at a relevant training institution or hold a related certification, along with at least three years of work experience in the field.

Hiring companies have to be officially registered as slaughterhouse operators and must not have recorded any worker departures within the past year.

The program is being implemented on a trial basis, with an annual quota of 150 workers set for the pilot period running through December 2027. The Ministry of Justice said it will work with other relevant ministries and agencies to ensure a smooth rollout.

Meanwhile, the ministry has also eased employment restrictions for small slaughterhouses. Previously, companies were limited to hiring a maximum of two foreign workers regardless of their size. Under the revised rules, firms may now employ more than two foreign workers, with those seeking to hire more allowed to do so up to 20 percent of their Korean workforce.

“The entry of these slaughterhouse workers represents a policy that not only addresses the industry’s long-standing labor shortages but also helps safeguard the nation’s food supply, supporting both the sector and people’s livelihoods,” Minister Jung Sung-ho said. “We will continue to incorporate feedback from the field into immigration policy and work to deliver measures that people can genuinely feel in their daily lives.”