Foreign Workers

20123 윤주상

http://blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=pyjune114&logNo=150016037898

#20123 Justin Yun

Since the very early civilizations, people have been in contact with and have been working in other civilizations. People who believed the conditions of a country was much more favorable than that of their country migrated for their needs and wants. Likewise, foreign workers simply refer to people who migrated to a country in pursuit of better workplaces. Although the presence of foreign workers evokes numerous problems, it still has many benefits that significantly place countries in economically higher positions.

Indeed, foreign workers stimulate the economy. However, the term, “foreign workers”, seems to contain stereotypical and biased connotations. For example, people rarely call an American tutor a “foreign worker”. People usually use the word to identify laborers from East Asia who are illegally staying in a country to earn money. That is why I will use quotation marks for the term. In fact, 64.1% of foreign workers in S. Korea are illegal staying in the country. Plus, about 94.4% of foreign workers are simple laborers, and about 91.5% among them do not have working permits. Although many are illegal, people cannot blame them because the responsibility is on the Korean government. When people from East Asia came over to Korea in pursuit of money and success, it was the government that allowed them to work and extended their visa. However, now that the time has passed and different governments have settled, the positions of remaining foreign workers stand low.

The illegal conditions that follow the “foreign workers” put limitations on their labor contracts. Since they are not considered “workers” in Korean labor law, they are not protected by the law. So in order to work, “foreign workers” have to undergo very poor conditions that fall very below the standards that are stipulated in the law. Even the payments and working hours are extremely unfair. They are often forced to work much more than what the contract says and are not paid rightfully. Since the Korean government has not allowed them as workers, “foreign workers” have no rights as workers. Moreover, most “foreign workers” do not speak Korean well. Their inability to communicate may definitely lead to their unawareness of danger since they cannot possibly get safety education. Not only the contracts and safety matter, but also the treatments from fellow workers should be considered. 47.2% of foreign workers have said that they feel personally discriminated by people. It is likely that the different cultures along with inability to communicate lead to suspicion ad conflict.

In order to resolve the recurring problems regarding “foreign workers”, the government has passed a law that stipulates that the owner should get a hiring permit for a “foreign worker”, and with the permit, he or she is considered as a worker. It also states that if foreign workers move more than 3 workplaces he or she will be kicked out of the country. Still, owners found out to cleverly get around the law by firing the “foreign workers” so that later, they become illegal. Likewise, the owners have been benefiting from the illegal state for their own benefit. Still, the Korean government is very unaware of the problems about “foreign workers”. Even people ignore the issue. As one of a few people who actually care about them, I have been teaching Korean to Spanish speaking workers. From the volunteering work, I have realized how difficult it would be for them to communicate with Korean people. “Foreign workers” are living under much harsher conditions than many people can think of. The Korean government should provide at least the minimal standard conditions to the workers in order to get away from the blame that Korea is maintaining its economy through its unfair, forceful treatment of its “foreign workers”.

The treatment of “foreign workers” should be one of the priorities of the government. At first, the number of illegal immigrants made me freak out because I do not favor them, Later, I became to pity them. Then, I started to feel mad at the Korean government for its unawareness of the poor people. In this society, “foreign laborers” play more important roles than anyone else. As people who support and have at least the basic human rights, we, the Korean people, should not only care about the welfare of ourselves, but also give all people the support for a better life; that will make a real, good welfare and a better world. In order to do so, we should be aware of the problems of the “foreign workers”, and everyone should pay attention and attempt to resolve the unremitting problem.