"Facing a labor crisis, South Korea turns to migrants. Why are they more likely to die on the job?,"

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For decades, South Korea resisted admitting large numbers of immigrants, but a deepening labor shortage spurred by the world’s worst population collapse left it with little choice.

Roy and the other workers at his factory had been recruited through a program known as the Employment Permit System, which has become the country’s most important stopgap against the crisis. The EPS, which included 370,000 workers at the end of last year, is on track to add 120,000 more this year — up from 56,000 in 2019...

But as the migrant program ramps up recruitment, it has come under scrutiny for what critics say is failure to guarantee safe working conditions.

Government data show that foreigners made up roughly 9% of the manufacturing workforce in 2021 but accounted for 18% of its 184 accidental deaths.

The criticism has focused on the powers the program gives to employers, which makes it difficult for migrants to seek other jobs or protest unsafe working conditions.

“It essentially allows local employers to hold migrant workers hostage,” said Choi Jung-kyu, a migrant rights lawyer at the forefront of the campaign to reform the program...

... the labor ministry said in its statement that migrant workers are clustered in smaller manufacturing companies, which tend to be more dangerous, and that language barriers and a lack of experience also make them more prone to accidents...

Ansung Industrial, the company where Roy landed in early 2021, has won government accolades for its exports of equipment like backhoes and tractors...

At his workstation, fumes from the paint thinner stung his nose, mixing in with the haze of metal dust emitted by the grinding. “It always smelled,” he said. “You could feel the metal dust go down your throat.”

Roy said that early on he had asked a manager for a respirator but was given a blue fabric mask instead. He wanted to find another job but knew he was stuck at Ansung. An employer’s failure to provide proper protective equipment, while a violation of industrial safety law, is not an accepted reason for a job transfer...

Ansung sent a letter to the worker’s comp agency, known as KCOMWEL, saying all of its workers were supplied with industrial respirators and that Roy’s illness was caused by “a personal neglect of his own health.”

When reached for comment by The Times, a manager at Ansung declined to answer questions about Roy’s case. “Our only stance is that we are hoping for a quick resolution from KCOMWEL,” he said...