“Foreign Workers in South Korea Owed Nearly 70 Billion Won in Unpaid Wages”

As South Korea grapples with record-breaking levels of wage arrears this year, a new report has revealed that foreign workers have borne a disproportionate share of the burden, with unpaid wages totaling nearly 70 billion won in the first seven months of 2024.

According to data obtained from the Ministry of Employment and Labor by Kim Wi-sang, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, 14,913 foreign workers from 4,124 businesses did not received their rightful pay between January and July of this year.

The issue of wage arrears has reached unprecedented levels in South Korea, with the total amount of unpaid wages for both domestic and foreign workers surpassing 1.2 trillion won by July. This marks the first time that unpaid wages have exceeded 1 trillion won in a half-year period, with an additional 180 billion won accruing in July alone.

Foreign workers, who make up 3.2% of the total workforce in South Korea, account for 5.7% of the total unpaid wages and 8.5% of affected workers. This disparity suggests that foreign workers are more likely to experience wage theft than their South Korean counterparts…

…Manufacturing and construction sectors, which employ many foreign workers under the Employment Permit System (E-9 visa), are particularly problematic…