Preliminary Candidate Shin Jeong-hoon's 10th Livelihood Pledge: 'Construction of Dormitories for Foreign Workers'

Shin Jeong-hoon, the Democratic Party preliminary candidate for Naju·Hwasun, announced the construction of dormitories for foreign workers within Naju·Hwasun.

According to candidate Shin on the 25th, the number of foreign workers is increasing to resolve labor shortages caused by aging agriculture and rural areas and a decrease in the labor force.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor's "Employment Permit System (E-9) nationwide allocation" increased 2.3 times from 6,400 in 2020 to 14,950 in 2023. During the same period, the number of arrivals in Jeonnam surged 10.6 times from 94 to 998.

Also, the Ministry of Justice's "Seasonal Worker System (C-4, E-8) nationwide allocation" increased sevenfold from 4,917 in 2020 to 34,614 in 2023, and the number of arrivals in Jeonnam increased from zero to 3,733 during the same period. Even considering the COVID-19 situation, this is a 3.6-fold increase compared to 1,039 in 2022 within one year.

However, small-scale farms are frequently giving up applications because they cannot provide adequate accommodations for these workers. In particular, since 2021, the housing facility standards for employment permits in the agriculture and fisheries sectors have been significantly strengthened, making it impossible to provide containers or prefabricated panels inside vinyl greenhouses as accommodations.

In this regard, since 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs has been supporting the construction or renovation costs of housing facilities for farmers and agricultural corporations employing domestic and foreign workers. However, government public projects have limited support locations, making it insufficient to meet demand, so expanding dormitory construction is necessary.

Accordingly, candidate Shin Jeong-hoon is promoting the construction of dormitories for foreign and agricultural workers within Naju·Hwasun. To systematically secure and manage the rapidly increasing foreign agricultural workforce, dormitories will be expanded, and unit price increases necessary for facility expansion to attract workers from urban areas will be pursued.

Candidate Shin stated, "Foreign workers are an important workforce in rural areas hit hard by worsening population decline and aging," and added, "By building dormitories for foreign workers within Naju·Hwasun, we will alleviate labor shortages in rural areas through housing stability for agricultural workers and improve the agricultural environment."

He continued, "Fundamentally, the labor shortage issue is connected to structural problems such as regional extinction and the decline of agriculture and fisheries," emphasizing, "We will comprehensively support smooth supply and demand and improvements in working conditions to secure the stability of agricultural and fishery production, and simultaneously promote the creation of environments to protect workers' human rights and improve job awareness."

Meanwhile, the "Special Act on Support for Agricultural and Fishery Employment Workforce," co-proposed by candidate Shin Jeong-hoon, came into effect this month. He also led the proposal of the "Public Official Election Act Amendment" to move the local election period held during the busy farming season to the end of April to alleviate labor shortages.

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