This undated file photo shows foreign seasonal workers employed by a local farm. It is not directly related to the content of the article. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will temporarily ease rules on the employment of foreign seasonal workers in the agriculture and fisheries sectors to cope with the labor shortage aggravated by the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Justice said Monday.
Under the temporary deregulatory measure, foreigners who are staying here without a work visa or overstayers unable to return home due to COVID-19 will be permitted to work at local farming and fishing villages for up to 13 months, the ministry said.
It said the temporary seasonal work program will be applied to about 79,000 foreigners, including those staying in South Korea with the F-1 visiting and joining family visa or the F-3 family dependents visa, and overstayers who entered here with the H-2 working visit visa or the E-9 non-professional employment visa.
Accordingly, any eligible foreign nationals selected by local governments and approved by the immigration authorities will be able to participate in seasonal farming and fishing work from March 2 until March 31 next year, the ministry said.
The ministry explained that it has introduced the temporary deregulatory policy in consideration of the situation in which it is difficult for seasonal foreign workers to enter Korea due to the prolonged coronavirus pandemic amid the labor shortage in the local agriculture and fisheries sectors.
It said that ethnic Koreans and foreigners who participate in seasonal work here for more than 90 days will receive various benefits, such as procedural simplification, exemption of fees and granting of additional points in case of reentries and visa status changes.
Meanwhile, the ministry said it and other relevant government agencies confirmed a list of 4,631 foreign seasonal workers on Feb. 5 at the request of 37 local governments nationwide.
(Yonhap)
