Seoul: The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced plans to formulate an integrated support road map for migrant workers within the first half of this year. This initiative reflects expert opinions collected at various forums, as stated by Vice Minister Kwon Chang-jun during a National Assembly forum. The new policy aims to adopt a comprehensive perspective on foreign employment, covering introduction, utilization, and support for stay and settlement.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Vice Minister Kwon emphasized the government's commitment to finalizing the integrated support road map to create a sustainable labor market. He highlighted the importance of revising the employment permit system to balance the human rights of foreign workers with the employment needs of domestic workers. The initiative aims to promote the growth of unskilled foreign workers and expand opportunities for skilled personnel to remain in South Korea long-term.
Currently, the foreign workforce in South Korea numbers 1.1 million. However, critics argue that existing policies fail to address industrial demands or adequately protect migrant workers' rights due to oversight being divided among ministries based on visa types. At the forum, Lee Kyu-yong, a senior research fellow at the Korea Labor Institute, pointed out that the foreign workforce policy is fragmented and needs a shift towards effective utilization of migrant workers.
Lee proposed establishing an integrated management system for foreign workers, covering their entire life cycle from introduction and selection to adaptation, skill formation, career development, and repatriation. Additionally, Professor Nho Yong-jin from the Seoul National University of Science and Technology suggested restructuring the classification of labor into three stages: simple manual, mid-skilled, and high-skilled, in response to expanding labor shortages in skilled trades.
The labor ministry has been proactive in gathering feedback by operating a foreign workforce integrated support task force from December to February. The task force collected opinions from labor and management representatives, field experts, and relevant agencies. Two forums were held last month to further discuss these initiatives.