[Unofficial translation provided by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

“‘Company claims Korean-Chinese worker with brain injury ‘can't be paid as much as Koreans’...Court rules otherwise”, 27 February 2025

Mr A, a Chinese national who came to Korea in 2010 as a Korean-Chinese worker…. suffered a serious accident while working at a construction site.

…In determining the compensation amount, the company argued that Mr A's income should not be calculated using Korean wage standards, as he was a foreign worker. However, the court rejected this argument. Hyundai Engineering claimed that, as Mr A was a citizen of the People's Republic of China, his compensation should be based on the income he could have earned in China when after his legal stay in Korea had expired.

The court, however, ruled that “Mr A has lived continuously in Korea since his arrival in 2010, and there was no substantial reason why he could not have extended his stay in Korea, thereby allowing him to continue residing in the country. He has lived at the residence he established here since his initial entry." Therefore, the court did not accept the company's argument.