Gangwon Province in South Korea is set to receive 9,168 foreign seasonal workers this year from four partner countries. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
CHUNCHEON, Feb. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Gangwon Province in South Korea is set to receive 9,168 foreign seasonal workers this year from four partner countries – the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia – to address rural labor shortages, provincial officials announced on February 26.
The figure represents a 19% increase from last year, with 1,733 more workers expected to arrive. The workers, who will begin entering the country in March, will be assigned to individual farms and regional agricultural cooperatives across 16 cities and counties in the province.
The seasonal worker program operates under two distinct models. The majority of workers (8,763) will be employed directly by individual farms, while 405 workers will be managed by regional agricultural cooperatives that will allocate labor to farms as needed.
To facilitate the workers’ settlement and improve working conditions, the provincial government is investing 4.1 billion won in five key initiatives. These projects include establishing public seasonal worker centers, providing medical benefits and employment insurance, offering industrial accident insurance, and improving living accommodations.
The province is also implementing a program to support marriage immigrants in inviting their family members or relatives to participate in agricultural work, a measure expected to help stabilize both workers’ lives and farms’ labor needs.
“We expect the foreign seasonal worker program to address labor shortages during peak farming seasons and establish a stable agricultural production base,” said Seok Seong-gyun, director of the province’s Agricultural Policy Bureau. “We will do our utmost to create an environment that satisfies both farmers and workers.”
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
