On Wednesday, the Haenam Branch of the Gwangju District Court handed down a 15-year prison sentence to a villager identified only as Jin, aged 52. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
HAENAM, Oct. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – Amidst a growing labor shortage in rural areas, a tragic incident unfolded among villagers engaged in a dispute over the availability of foreign labor during the busy planting season – a critical time for farmers.
On Wednesday, the Haenam Branch of the Gwangju District Court handed down a 15-year prison sentence to a villager identified only as Jin, aged 52. He was convicted of murder and disposing of a body after being accused of fatally assaulting an individual referred to only as B, a fellow villager, using a farming tool at 9:30 p.m. on May 14 following a heated disagreement over the supply of foreign labor.
Additionally, an individual referred to only as A, a 27-year-old Thai foreign worker who assisted Jin in disposing of the body, received a one-year prison sentence. He faced charges of body abandonment and violations of the Immigration Control Act.
The tragic incident occurred after Jin, who had provided 16 foreign workers to rural areas, refused B’s request for labor assistance during their dispute.
The altercation escalated to a physical confrontation when the two met to discuss the matter. Tragically, it ended with Jin taking B’s life, and the body was later concealed in the bed of a truck belonging to A.
Jin vehemently denied the charge of body abandonment, claiming, “I believed he had fainted, so I placed him in the truck bed with the intention of taking him to the hospital.” However, the court did not accept this explanation.
In the meantime, rural areas continue to struggle with a labor shortage, making the acquisition of foreign labor an urgent concern, particularly in field farming, which still relies heavily on manual labor in contrast to highly mechanized paddy farming.
Without foreign labor, the prospects of successful farming during these labor-intensive periods appear bleak. Furthermore, an extensive crackdown on the illegal immigration of foreign agricultural workers during peak farming seasons would likely bring all agricultural operations to a halt.
Presently, the utilization of legal avenues for hiring foreign agricultural workers, such as work visas and seasonal labor programs, remains limited. According to a February report from the Korea Rural Economic Research Institute, out of 402 farms surveyed, 64.2 percent employed foreigners. Shockingly, 85 percent of these farms solely relied on foreign labor, while 94.9 percent combined domestic and foreign workers through ‘informal channels.’
Given the scarcity of legally authorized foreign agricultural workers, combined with the surging demand for labor during the spring and fall farming seasons, it is almost inevitable for farmers to resort to hiring undocumented workers.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
