Korea inspects coastal farms to protect migrant fishing workers

Korea has launched a comprehensive three-week inspection campaign targeting coastal fishing households that employ foreign seasonal workers, seeking to root out labor abuses and improve living standards in the country’s aging maritime sector.

The joint crackdown, led by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, began Monday and will cover roughly 160 fishing households across the nation through Nov. 27. The initiative arrives amid growing scrutiny over the treatment of foreign laborers brought in to relieve severe workforce shortages in rural coastal communities.

Officials said joint inspection teams — comprising government personnel, local authorities and civil rights groups — will directly visit five municipal regions with large seasonal worker allocations or lingering allegations of human rights violations. Local governments will independently audit an additional 22 municipalities.

Inspectors are focusing on compliance with standard labor contracts, the provision of adequate heating and housing ahead of the winter season, mandatory insurance coverage, and unpaid wages. Crucially, officials are conducting face-to-face interviews with workers to detect systemic abuses, such as the illegal confiscation of passports and bankbooks, or restrictions on freedom of movement and communication.

Substandard conditions will carry direct penalties. Farms failing to rectify violations face demerit points and potential bans on receiving foreign seasonal workers in future quota allocations.

The winter monitoring comes against the backdrop of persistent, high-profile tragedies and abuses involving foreign agricultural and maritime workers.

Public outcry intensified following the December 2020 death of a Cambodian worker found dead inside an unheated, makeshift greenhouse dormitory in Pocheon during a minus-17-degree Celsius cold snap — a landmark case that led the Supreme Court to hold the government liable for failing to conduct mandatory workplace safety inspections. Similar abuses resurfaced in late 2024 when a Cambodian worker in Yongin shared viral footage of her collapsed, water-logged greenhouse shelter following heavy snowfall, highlighting how many migrant laborers remain exposed to hazardous winter living conditions, unheated structures and sudden evictions.

The inspections come as Korea relies increasingly on foreign labor to sustain its essential industries amid rapid demographic aging and a shrinking domestic rural workforce. The foreign seasonal worker program has expanded rapidly in recent years, but rapid growth has raised concerns over regulatory oversight and worker welfare in isolated coastal environments.

“The safety and human rights of foreign seasonal workers are fundamental principles that must be protected,” said Cha Yong-ho, head of the justice ministry’s Korea Immigration Service.

Choi Hyun-ho, head of the Fisheries Policy Bureau at the oceans ministry, emphasized that tangible improvements to working and living environments are critical to ensuring foreign laborers can work safely in coastal regions.

By pairing strict regulatory enforcement with on-the-ground worker interviews, authorities aim to secure both basic human rights and long-term sustainability for Korea’s marine economy.

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