Until the mid-1980s, Korea had the highest population density in the world, per capita national income remained at the level of 5,000 dollars, and idle labor, such as potential unemployed, overflowed. Therefore, Korea's foreign worker policy has been implemented based on the principle of substitutability, allowing foreigners to work within the minimum necessary scope. For example, only professional human resources such as university professors, researchers, and technicians were allowed to work in the country, and unskilled or skilled workers were not allowed to work in the country. However, with the successful hosting of the '88 Seoul Olympics, Korea's international status has risen, wages have risen due to rapid economic growth, and people's avoidance of the 3D (dirty, difficult, and dangerous) industries has intensified due to the improvement in national income level. Small and medium-sized manufacturers had no choice but to close down or move their factories overseas because they could not find domestic workers.
As small and medium-sized manufacturers face a serious labor shortage, employers' awareness of trying to solve the problem even by hiring cheap foreign workers illegally and foreigners' awareness that they can receive relatively high wages coincide with those of Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines, Thailand, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, including Chinese Koreans. It has become a social problem as cases of illegal employment in small and medium-sized manufacturers with severe manpower shortages have increased rapidly. Park Kil-nam, The Book, pp. 131-132.


■ Industrial Trainee System
On October 26, 1991, the government enacted the ‘Guidelines for Issuance of Industrial Technology Training Visas for Foreigners’ as a directive of the Ministry of Justice and introduced the ‘Industrial Trainee System’ that can utilize simple skilled foreign workers. It is true that the Industrial Trainee System has contributed to some part of Korea's economic growth by providing an insufficient labor force to small and medium-sized manufacturers suffering from severe manpower shortages. However, because industrial trainees came in as trainees, not workers, they often left the training companies and became illegal residents because they did not receive half of their salary even if they did the same work. Some vicious employers took advantage of their weakness as illegal immigrants and committed serious human rights violations, such as delaying payment of wages or resorting to violence and verbal abuse. In addition, even if illegal immigrants suffered an industrial accident while working, they were not treated properly for fear of being caught and deported, and their passports and alien registration cards were confiscated. In addition, amid fierce criticism from public opinion for corruption in sending out and using industrial trainees as workers expediently, through the parallel process of introducing the “Training Employment System” the “Employment Management System” the “Industrial Trainee System” and the “Employment Permit System”, in 2007 Since 2008, the employment permit system has been integrated, except for technical training for foreigners in pure form.

< Judicial Precedent for Recognizing Worker Status of Foreign
Workers without Employment Qualifications >


On a cold winter day in January 1995, 13 Nepalese industrial trainees wrapped their chains around their bodies in front of Myeongdong Cathedral and protested, saying, “Don’t hit me” and “We are not slaves.” They came to Korea in pursuit of the Korean dream as industrial trainees to learn skills and escape poverty. Instead of properly teaching their skills, their employers forced them to work long hours for low wages, and labor dispatchers hijacked their wages from the middlemen. It was serious.
Taking this case as an opportunity, the Supreme Court ruled that foreigners without employment qualifications were allowed to work as provided. “In case a foreigner entered Korea with an industrial training (D-3) qualification, not an employment qualification, signed an employment contract with a company that was subject to the former Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, and was injured while providing work, even if the foreigner was injured while working. Even if a foreigner did not have employment qualifications under the former Immigration Control Act, the employment contract cannot be said to be null and void, and at the time of the above injury, the foreigner was a person who provided work and received wages in a subordinate relationship and was considered a worker specified in the Labor Standards Act. Since it is said to be applicable, it is eligible for medical care benefits under the former Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act.” Supreme Court ruling 1995. 9. 15., 94nu12067 Decision



■ Employment Permit System
❍ Background of Employment Permit System
The Employment Permit System (EPS), which has been in effect since 2004, is a system that allows employers unable to find domestic workers to legally employ foreign workers by obtaining an employment permit from the government (Ministry of Employment and Labor). The Employment Permit System introduces and utilizes an appropriate number of foreign workers for industries with a shortage of domestic manpower but prevents domestic employment opportunities from being infringed upon. In principle, the working conditions are protected the same as for domestic workers.
The employment permit system is largely divided into the general employment permit system and the special employment permit system. The general employment permit system refers to a system that permits the employment of foreign workers by signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the governments of 15 sending countries. The special employment permit system (visit employment system) refers to a system that allows Koreans residing in China and the former Soviet Union to get a simple labor job. The Employment Permit System limits the scale of introduction of foreigners, the type of business permitted to employ foreigners, and the limit on foreign employment by workplace to protect the labor market for locals. In addition, for foreign workers who entered Korea under the employment permit system, only a temporary stay (up to 4 years and 10 months) is allowed to prevent settling. Korea adopts the non-discrimination principle, subsidiarity principle, settlement prohibition principle, and industrial restructuring prohibition principle as basic principles for simple skilled foreign workers under the Employment Permit System. Yongho Cha. 『Korean Immigration Law』, Beommunsa, 2015, p. 914.


❍ Main Contents of the Employment Permit System
First of all, the Employment Permit System guarantees employment opportunities for locals and utilizes foreign workers, focusing on SMEs and 3D industries with less than 300 full-time workers or fewer than KRW 8 billion in capital. In other words, the government determines the appropriate level of foreign labor introduction in connection with labor supply and demand trends and imposes a 14-day duty on the employer to make efforts to recruit domestic workers.
Second, the government has signed memoranda of understanding (MOU) with 15 countries to send foreign workers to prevent irregularities in sending them out and to secure transparency in the selection and introduction of foreign workers. Third, foreign workers who wish to enter the country under the employment permit system must pass the Korean Proficiency Test (TOPIK) and be issued a non-professional employment (E-9) visa valid for 3 years. Non-professional employment (E-9) visa-permitted industries are as follows: Manufacturing (SMEs with less than 300 full-time workers or less than 8 billion won in capital), construction, agriculture (crop cultivation), fishery (inshore fishing and aquaculture), service (refrigeration and freezing storage, data collection and sales for recycling), and livestock industry.
The procedures for hiring foreign workers are: (1) recruitment of Korean nationals (14 days); (2) application for a foreigner's employment permit (Jurisdictional Job Center); (3) issuance of an Employment Permit (Jurisdictional Job Center); (4) signing of a labor contract; (5) issuance of a visa issuance certificate (Immigration Office); (6) entry and employment training for foreign workers; (7) workplace placement and employment. For reference, according to the statistics of the Ministry of Justice, as of the end of April 2023, there were 278,000 foreign workers who entered Korea under the general employment permit system, i.e., non-professional employment (E-9) visa holders, and overseas workers who entered Korea under the special employment permit system, i.e., visiting employment (there are about 150,000 H-2 holders of Residence status), and a total of about 383,000 people have entered the employment permit system and are working in Korea.


Countries Signing Employment Permit System Memorandum of Understanding (16 countries) including Laos

Philippines

Indonesia

Bangladesh

Mongolia

Uzbekistan

Kyrgyzstan

Sri Lanka

Pakistan

Nepal

Vietnam

Cambodia

Myanmar

Thailand

China

East Timor

The continuation of the current foreign manpower supply system means the maintenance of an industrial structure dependent on low wages and unskilled labor, and the social cost of the influx of foreign manpower cannot be ignored. Therefore, the system for introducing low-skilled foreign workers should seek the principles of subsidiarity of the domestic labor market, not hindering industrial restructuring, preventing foreign workers' settlement, and effective utilization of long-term foreign workers.