Gov't to inspect human rights conditions for foreign seasonal farm workers across 139 municipalities

The government will conduct a month-long inspection of human rights conditions for foreign seasonal agricultural workers across 139 municipalities nationwide.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Justice said Monday the review, covering all 139 municipalities where foreign seasonal workers have been placed, will run for one month beginning Monday.

The inspection aims to assess working conditions and human rights protections to ensure foreign seasonal workers can work in safe environments.

The review will proceed on two tracks: self-inspections by individual municipalities and joint inspections by the relevant ministries.

Under the self-inspection track, municipalities will check farms assigned foreign seasonal workers, verifying compliance with labor contracts, enrollment in mandatory insurance, provision of legally compliant housing, and measures to prevent heat-related illness and workplace accidents.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Justice will also conduct joint on-site inspections at 15 municipalities that lack dedicated staff for managing foreign seasonal workers.

Those joint inspections will focus on whether human rights education has been provided and completed, whether labor contracts are being honored, whether mandatory insurance has been obtained, and whether workers are living in legally compliant housing.

When violations are found — such as failure to provide legally compliant housing — local governments and farms will be ordered to make corrections. If corrections are not made within one month, the Ministry of Justice will impose penalty points under its guidelines, and the municipalities or farms may face restrictions on their foreign seasonal worker allocations next year.

To strengthen protections for foreign seasonal workers, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs last year amended the Special Act on Support for Agricultural and Fisheries Employment, making enrollment in three mandatory insurance programs compulsory: wage arrears guarantee insurance, farmer safety insurance, and injury insurance. The law also requires that wages and other financial obligations be settled before workers return home.

The ministry is also expanding public housing for foreign seasonal workers. Twelve facilities are currently in operation, with a target of completing 35 by 2028. The ministry is also pursuing additional housing supply through the renovation of idle National Agricultural Cooperative Federation facilities.

To prevent heat-related illness during summer, the ministry is providing shade structures and cooling vests. It also operates a human rights counseling center at the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation that offers interpretation in six languages.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it plans to continue working with related ministries — including the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Employment and Labor — to conduct regular human rights inspections and pursue further improvements to the relevant system.