The Korean government has reportedly discussed legalizing undocumented migrants and allowing family accompaniment for workers under the Employment Permit System (E-9 visa). The government plans to review whether to turn these discussions into policy.
According to labor and business groups on the 26th, a task force on integrated foreign workforce support formed by the Ministry of Employment and Labor recently concluded its activities after discussing approximately 20 support measures. The task force comprised 26 members including representatives from labor, business, government, and academia. Launched in late last year, the TF has been deliberating on ways to establish effective foreign workforce policies—currently fragmented across ministries and visa categories—and improve working conditions for foreign workers.
The task force addressed three major areas: legalization of undocumented migrants, improvements to the Employment Permit System, and visa-related issues for foreign workers.
Regarding legalization of undocumented migrants, task force members agreed on the principle but failed to reach conclusions on scale and methodology. Multiple issues conflicted, including human rights protection for undocumented migrants versus concerns about domestic job losses and moral hazard among foreign workers. The government previously legalized approximately 185,000 undocumented migrants who had stayed in Korea for less than four years in November 2003, ahead of implementing the Employment Permit System in 2004.
Significant progress was reported on Employment Permit System reforms. Labor and management agreed to shorten the mandatory employment period after initial entry from the current three years. Reducing this period by an additional year for foreign workers with superior Korean language skills was also discussed. Both sides supported allowing family accompaniment for certain visa categories within the E-9 system. There was little conflict over strengthening regulations for workplaces under the system, including criteria for employers with unpaid wage violations.
However, labor and management disagreed sharply on lifting regional mobility restrictions for foreign workers. With foreign workers already heavily concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area, concerns exist that removing restrictions on movement across the other four regions could cause workers to flood into specific provinces.
The task force also shared opinions on integrating foreign worker visas, including incorporating some Skilled Worker (E-7) visas into the Employment Permit System. The Ministry of Employment and Labor has been working with the Ministry of Justice to reorganize the visa system, amid numerous complaints that E-7 visas are encroaching on domestic jobs in the shipbuilding industry. The government expanded this visa category in 2022 to address labor shortages in shipbuilding.
"No stakeholder would disagree on the need to supplement the Employment Permit System," said Noh Min-sun, director of SME Policy Research at the Korea Small Business Institute. "When improving the system, both labor and management urgently need to make concessions while considering the difficult circumstances of small and medium enterprises."
The government has decided to form an inter-ministerial task force based on these discussions to review policy implementation, but whether the proposals will become actual policy remains uncertain. While the Ministry of Employment and Labor operates the Employment Permit System, other visas fall under the Ministry of Justice's jurisdiction, requiring coordination between the two ministries.
The government plans to announce foreign workforce support measures as early as next month. A Ministry of Employment and Labor official said, "Task forces by nature can discuss various measures. Nothing has been decided on which policies to pursue—inter-ministerial coordination must proceed."