Yeongyang-gun, Arrival of 2nd Seasonal Workers Following MOU Signing

Yeongyang-gun, Gyeongbuk Province, announced that following the arrival of 90 Vietnamese foreign seasonal workers under the first MOU agreement in April, 198 workers arrived from Vietnam on June 2 under the second MOU agreement.

Yeongyang County Office.

Unlike the first group of seasonal workers who entered on April 6 with C-4 visas and stayed for 90 days, the newly arrived workers entered with E-8 visas and will be assigned to farms for five months, which is expected to greatly help alleviate the labor shortage.

They plan to undergo drug testing at a Ministry of Justice-designated hospital in June and complete foreigner registration by visiting the immigration office within three months from their date of entry.

The newly arrived workers will be employed at various farms cultivating chili peppers, lettuce, and fruit trees, and are especially expected to provide significant assistance to lettuce farms currently in peak harvest season.

County Governor Oh Do-chang said, “Thanks to the foreign seasonal workers, we have been greatly helped in resolving labor shortages during the busy farming season. This year, workers arrived at the times requested by the farms, which has led to high satisfaction among farmers. We will continue to expand the seasonal worker program to address labor shortages and stabilize labor costs.”

According to county officials, “Labor costs, which had been rising sharply every year due to COVID-19 and other factors, have been stabilizing since last year thanks to the expanded introduction of foreign seasonal workers. Especially this year, the large-scale recruitment of workers is expected to significantly alleviate the chronic labor shortages during the busy farming seasons that have occurred annually.”

In Yeongyang-gun, a total of 405 foreign seasonal workers are currently assigned to 133 farms as of June 2, including 288 workers who arrived through the first and second MOU agreements and 117 who entered through family and relative invitation programs for marriage immigrants. If approximately 250 more workers arrive in early August under the third MOU agreement, more than 650 foreign seasonal workers will have arrived this year alone.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.