Buyeo-gun Assigns 97 Filipino Seasonal Workers to Farms

Seasonal workers of Filipino nationality have entered Buyeo-gun, where there is a labor shortage due to aging, and are taking a commemorative photo. / Buyeo-gun Office

On the 23rd, Buyeo-gun, Chungnam Province announced that it has placed 97 seasonal workers of Filipino nationality in 20 farms as part of a public job program to address the shortage of agricultural labor caused by aging population in rural areas.

On April 19, the county signed a business agreement with local governments in the Philippines and other parties to promote the entry of seasonal workers, but the schedule was delayed due to internal circumstances in the Philippines.

Judging that a labor shortage during the busy farming season would be inevitable, the county quickly handled administrative tasks through communication via email and phone with the Ministry of Justice, local governments in the Philippines, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Philippines, and the Philippine Visa Center, enabling the seasonal workers to enter the country.

As of April, the number of foreign seasonal workers totaled 258, including 161 invited through family sponsorship of marriage immigrants, 52 matched with farms through business agreements, and 45 in the public job program. Additional allocations will be made in the second half of the year to support manpower.

The county plans to strengthen communication and listen to difficulties faced by workers and farms, and to carry out administration that satisfies both workers and farms through on-site inspections and other measures.

County Governor Park Jeong-hyun said, “The problem of rural population decline and labor shortage due to aging is already serious. We will take the lead in creating a safe agricultural work environment so that foreign seasonal workers can live happily with Buyeo-gun farms, and carry out field administration that listens to the voices of the farms.”

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