Seoul Plans Expansion of Foreign Home Helper Program, Eyes Additional Nations and Services

Seoul: The Seoul city government, under the leadership of Mayor Oh Se-hoon, is deliberating an expansion of its foreign home helper program, which may soon include a broader range of services and additional countries beyond the Philippines. This initiative aims to address the increasing demand for domestic help, particularly in child care and homemaking. According to Yonhap News Agency, the first phase of Seoul's foreign helper program was launched last month with 100 workers from the Philippines, who began offering home chore services. These workers currently live in dormitories and travel to their job locations in the city, providing child care and related services. Mayor Oh Se-hoon, in a recent parliamentary audit session, highlighted the need for a more diverse program that could include live-in helpers, similar to models in Hong Kong and Singapore, and potentially extending invitations to workers from Cambodia and other Southeast Asian nations. "The city needs to consider what is suitable for our condi tions by diversifying the program, including adding live-in services or picking Cambodia and other Southeast Asian nations (as sending countries)," Oh stated. The mayor also noted the program's initial focus on child care but acknowledged potential future shortages in broader care services. The city is in consultations with the labor ministry to finalize the expansion plans. "We will announce the results as soon as consultations with the labor ministry are completed," he promised. Currently, the program's workers are all from the Philippines, but the proposed expansion could significantly widen the scope and scale of services offered, directly impacting the local labor market and potentially setting a precedent for other cities in South Korea.