"Working 11 Hours Without Holidays, Monthly Salary 2 Million Won, Plus Salt Farm" Another Job Posting Controversy

Controversy Over 'Salt Farm Slaves' in Seosando Following Shinan Salt Farm Announcement
Conditions Seem Aimed at Hiring Foreign Workers

Amid controversy on social networking services (SNS) over the so-called 'salt farm slaves' who earn less than the minimum wage, it has been confirmed that in the Seosan area, recruitment of salt farm workers working '7 days a week' without holidays is underway.

Image unrelated to the article content. [Photo by Getty Images Bank]

On the 4th, a job posting titled "Recruiting workers for salt farms" was uploaded on Worknet, a job information site operated by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Korea Employment Information Service. The announcement, registered on December 18 last year, specifies working hours from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., 11 hours a day, 7 days a week. The work location is listed as Seosan City, Chungnam Province.

The employment period is indicated as 10 months, and the wage is stated as a minimum hourly wage of "9,860 won" or more. Other details such as welfare benefits and specific working conditions were not provided. However, it was noted that working hours may change depending on weather conditions.

This is similar to the job posting for salt farm workers in Sinan, Jeonnam, which caused controversy on the 2nd. In the case of Sinan salt farms, the working condition was 40 hours per week with a monthly salary of 2.02 million won or more, which falls short of the minimum wage (converted to 2.06 million won). The Seosan salt farm posting has about 10 more working hours per week than Sinan.

Job posting seeking workers to work at a salt farm.
Photo by Worknet

Conditions seemingly aimed at hiring foreigners are also similar to Sinan. Both salt farms included the phrase "foreign workers will be hired after efforts to recruit domestic workers." This appears to be due to regulations requiring recruitment activities targeting domestic workers before hiring foreigners.

Job posting seeking workers to work at salt fields in Sinan.
[Photo by Worknet]

Earlier, the Sinan salt farm job posting on Worknet was deleted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor after the 'salt farm slave' controversy arose. In mid-November last year, a job posting was made to recruit simple laborers for solar salt production at a salt farm in Sinan, Jeonnam, with working conditions of 7 days a week and a monthly salary of 2.02 million won (or more). Although the weekly working hours were 40, it was noted that due to the nature of salt farm work, hours could vary depending on weather conditions. Welfare benefits included dormitory accommodation and three meals a day.

The posting remained online even after the new year but was criticized for offering a monthly salary below the minimum wage. This year's minimum wage is 9,860 won per hour, which converts to 2,060,740 won per month including weekly holiday pay. The Ministry of Employment and Labor, which deleted the posting, stated, "We have continuously conducted labor inspections to protect the labor rights and working conditions of workers engaged in salt farms," and added, "We will continue to strengthen on-site preventive activities in the future."

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