Government builds joint response system to protect salt farm workers' rights

The government is establishing a pan-government cooperation system to prevent labor rights violations against salt farm workers and support victims' recovery.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced Thursday that it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Korean National Police Agency and South Jeolla Province to protect the labor rights of salt farm workers.

The MOU aims to enable early detection of labor rights violations at salt farm workplaces, provide support to victims and foster a working environment where human rights are respected.

The participating agencies agreed to cooperate on inspecting salt farm workplaces, identifying cases of labor rights violations, protecting and supporting victims' recovery, and improving relevant systems.

They also plan to strengthen information sharing and joint response mechanisms among the agencies and expand preventive activities to stop labor rights violations from recurring.

The government said it will use the MOU as an opportunity to continuously monitor working conditions at salt farms and strengthen human rights protections on the ground.