Muan-gun Welcomes 89 Seasonal Filipino Workers to Alleviate Labor Shortage

Support for Seasonal Workers Assigned to 158 Workers (57 Farms) in the Second Half of the Year

Muan-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Kim San) announced on the 24th that 89 Filipino seasonal workers participating in the second half foreign seasonal worker program arrived at Incheon Airport on the 23rd.

The foreign seasonal worker program is a system that allows foreigners to work for 90 days or 5 months in industries that require intensive labor for a short period due to seasonality, in order to alleviate labor shortages in rural areas. Muan-gun signed a business agreement with Silang City, Philippines, and last year 107 workers, 53 in the first half of this year, and now the seasonal workers arriving in the second half are part of this program.

A total of 89 Filipino seasonal workers entered through Incheon Airport on the 23rd.
[Photo by Muan-gun]

The 89 foreign seasonal workers assigned in the second half are allocated to 28 farms and are expected to greatly help alleviate labor shortages during the busy farming season, such as onion planting and sweet potato harvesting.

On the 23rd, the seasonal workers received training on labor standards, human rights protection, and compliance matters together with their employer farms at the Seungdal Culture and Arts Center, after which they were assigned to farms and engaged in agricultural work.

Five officials, including a council member from Silang City, Philippines, arrived together with the workers to inspect and encourage the working conditions of the seasonal workers. Both parties expressed strong interest and agreed to expand various exchange and cooperation projects, not only in agricultural human resource exchange but also in other areas.

Additionally, in the second half of 2023, Muan-gun introduced a system inviting family and relatives of marriage immigrants residing in the area, and 46 workers are currently undergoing entry procedures to arrive according to the needs of each marriage immigrant farm.

In particular, through the extension system for the stay period of seasonal workers implemented from the second half of this year, 23 workers who arrived in the first half can continue working in the second half, so a total of 158 workers are expected to assist with rural labor in Muan-gun during the second half.

Seo Myeong-ho, Director of Agricultural Policy, stated, “Since the seasonal workers from the Philippines greatly help alleviate the labor shortage in Muan-gun’s rural areas, we will strictly adhere to labor standards and human rights protection to ensure that the foreign seasonal worker program is established as a model and can continue sustainably.”

Muan = Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Oh Hwan-joo just8440@asiae.co.kr

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