Record 93,000 Foreign Seasonal Workers Assigned to Agriculture... Implementation of Three Mandatory Insurance Policies

Ministry of Agriculture Unveils 2026 Agricultural Employment Support Plan
Mandatory Enrollment in Wage Default Guarantee, Agricultural Safety, and Injury Insurance

In response to labor shortages in the agricultural sector, the government has decided to introduce 93,000 foreign workers this year—the largest number ever. To ensure a safe and secure work environment for foreign workers, it will be mandatory to enroll in wage default guarantee insurance, agricultural safety insurance, and injury insurance.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs finalized and announced the “2026 Agricultural Employment Support Implementation Plan” on April 23, 2026. This is the first annual action plan under the “First Basic Plan for Agricultural Employment Support (2026–2030),” which was established in December 2025.

This implementation plan includes detailed policy measures to achieve the basic plan’s goals: ▲ expanding the supply of labor in the public sector (from 51.2% in 2024 to 60.0% in 2030), and ▲ improving the working environment (ensuring all seasonal workers are enrolled in agricultural safety insurance and making it mandatory for farms employing seasonal workers to have wage default guarantee insurance).

This year, to expand the supply of labor in the public sector, the government will extend agricultural job information channels to the private sector and operate public sector seasonal employment at an unprecedented scale. To improve workforce skills, a new skilled visa for agriculture and fisheries will be introduced in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, and a standard training curriculum will also be developed and implemented. To improve the work environment, a mandatory insurance system will be introduced, further strengthening workers’ human rights and safety.

◆ Stable Supply of Labor Tailored to On-Site Demand = First, the government will expand job information channels for Koreans seeking rural employment and launch a pilot project to share labor pools among neighboring cities and counties with differing labor demand timings.

Currently, the Rural Workforce Mediation Centers (189 nationwide) and the Urban-Rural Workforce Mediation Platform, which provide rural job information, are not easily accessible to urban residents. Therefore, starting this year, the Ministry will also provide rural job information through private online job-matching platforms, Employment Welfare Plus Centers, Multicultural Centers, and Returning-to-Farming Support Centers.

Additionally, a pilot project to share labor pools on a one-to-one basis between cities and counties will be launched, focusing on eight areas with high labor demand during peak farming seasons. The government will also solicit business ideas and initiatives from local governments seeking to attract agricultural workers, reward outstanding cases, and promote them nationwide.

In the first half of this year, the allocation of foreign seasonal workers reached a record 93,503, an increase of 16,092 (20.8%) compared to 77,411 last year. The number of agricultural cooperatives operating public sector seasonal employment programs has also expanded to 142 (with 5,039 allocated workers). To alleviate the cost burden for these cooperatives, the Ministry plans to revise the Enforcement Decree of the Long-Term Care Insurance Act within the first half of the year, in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, to exempt foreign seasonal workers affiliated with public sector agricultural cooperatives from the obligation to pay long-term care insurance premiums.

To enhance the agricultural skills of foreign seasonal workers, training materials containing basic agricultural terms, work procedures, and safety rules for high-demand crops such as apples, garlic, and strawberries will be developed in four languages—Vietnamese, Cambodian, Lao, and Filipino—and made available online, including on YouTube, starting in December 2026.

◆ Creating a Safe and Secure Work Environment for Workers = The government will also strengthen education and publicity to raise safety awareness among both farms and workers. Beginning this year, farms wishing to employ foreign seasonal workers must submit a “Safety Checklist,” which assesses the safety conditions of their farms, to their local government before applying for a visa issuance certificate. The Ministry plans to make this process mobile-based by the end of the year so that more farms can use it easily.

Measures to protect human rights and improve the living conditions of foreign seasonal workers will also be strengthened. To support smooth communication between farms and foreign seasonal workers, the Ministry will create and distribute the “Our Farm Communication Guide” in six languages (Vietnamese, Nepali, Myanmar, Cambodian, Thai, and Mongolian), including simple conversations, basic agricultural terms, and safety rules, within the first half of this year.

The expansion of accommodations for foreign workers will also be accelerated. To speed up the construction of dormitories for foreign workers—a project that began in 2022—the government is launching a new initiative this year to remodel ten idle facilities owned by agricultural cooperatives. Within the year, an “Agricultural Worker Accommodation Bank” will be established on the Urban-Rural Workforce Mediation Platform, providing regional accommodation rental information such as pensions.

To protect the human rights and safety of foreign workers, the Ministry will collaborate with related agencies to inspect working conditions and the safety of workplaces and accommodations. Based on the inspection results, corrective measures will be imposed on farms and local governments, and restrictions will be placed on the allocation of foreign seasonal workers where necessary.

In particular, farms employing foreign seasonal workers will be required to enroll in agricultural safety insurance and wage default guarantee insurance. The Ministry plans to strengthen promotion and guidance on these requirements during the grace period, which will last until February next year.

Yoon Wonsup, Director of Agricultural Policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, “By thoroughly implementing this year’s action plan, we will ease rural labor shortages,” adding, “We will do our utmost to create a safe and human rights-protected agricultural work environment.”

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