Seoul considers easing rules for agricultural migrant workers

SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is considering easing its crackdown on illegal migrants working in the country's agricultural sector, the Justice Ministry said Sunday, in an apparent move to help secure enough labor for the low-paying industry.
Ministry officials also said the government was considering giving green cards to
migrant workers who have worked in the agricultural sector for five years instead
of the 10 years currently needed for foreign workers in any other industry.
The move follows President Lee Myung-bak's visit last week to an agriculture and
fisheries market, where stall owners strongly encouraged him to consider easing
rules for migrant workers in the industry that South Korean youth avoid.
Over 10 percent of some 6,400 foreign workers currently working in the farming
industry are believed to be illegal migrants, according to ministry officials. In
the manufacturing sector, only 5.2 percent of all migrants are illegal workers.
However, they said the move does not mean the government will ease its efforts to
reduce the number of illegal migrant workers in the country, whether working in
the agricultural or any other sector.
"This basically means the government will reform its regulations to make it
easier for farms to hire foreign workers," Lee Choon-bok, a ministry official in
charge of immigration policy, said. "There will be no changes in our policy aim
to reduce the number of illegal aliens."
Seoul believes some 220,000 illegal migrants are currently working in the
country. Illegal migrants are subject to immediate deportation and a five-year
entry ban.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)