The South Korean government will allocate a record 104,000 foreign workers to the agricultural sector in the first half of this year to address labor shortages during the spring farming season. The government will also significantly expand its public seasonal worker program and operate special task forces in major agricultural production regions to intensively manage labor supply.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) announced the farming season labor supply plan on Wednesday, as Minister Song Mi-ryung visited a foreign seasonal worker site in Imsil County, North Jeolla Province.
According to the ministry, the 104,000 foreign workers allocated for the agricultural sector in the first half of this year consist of 94,000 seasonal workers and 10,000 workers under the Employment Permit System. The figure marks a record high, representing an approximately 8.3% increase from 96,000 a year earlier.
The "public seasonal worker" program, under which the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (Nonghyup) directly employs seasonal workers and supplies them to small-scale farms on a daily basis, will also be significantly expanded. The program will grow from 91 sites last year to 142 sites this year, with the number of workers increasing from 3,067 to 5,039. The government will also expand the "contracted farming seasonal worker" program, under which qualified corporations hire foreign seasonal workers to perform farm work on behalf of farmers.
To boost domestic labor supply, the government will increase transportation and lodging subsidies provided through rural labor brokerage centers. The daily transportation subsidy ceiling will rise from 10,000 won to 20,000 won, while the lodging subsidy will increase from 20,000 won to 30,000 won. Starting this month, agricultural job information is also being provided through Albamon, an online job platform.
The government plans to operate a "Special Task Force for Farming Season Labor Support" through the end of June in 35 cities and counties that produce major crops with high labor demand, including apples, peaches, garlic and onions. The task force will monitor labor supply and wage trends on a weekly basis. In areas facing labor shortages, the government will share labor pools from neighboring regions and intensively deploy helping hands.
"We will strengthen communication with the field and build a close cooperation system with related agencies to prevent labor shortages from occurring in rural areas during the farming season," Song said.
