Duck-Walk to Work in Korea? "That's Something Done in Prison"

[Anchor]

These days, local governments are directly heading overseas to recruit foreign seasonal workers to help ease labor shortages in rural areas. However, the selection methods have sparked controversy.

Jeong Banseok brings us this report in Morning Zoom-In.

[Reporter]

These photos were taken in Concepcion, Philippines, on August 25.

They show Paju, Gyeonggi Province, selecting seasonal workers, with applicants standing in lines, raising both arms, or lying on the ground.

There are also photos of applicants doing the duck-walk in a group.

Paju explained that it was conducting physical fitness tests for the roughly 300 people gathered at the site.

[Paju Official: It's not like we brought equipment with us, but a situation suddenly arose. We just asked them to do about 10 push-ups or walk a few steps in a duck-walk.]

The person holding the microphone at the site was not a Paju public official, but the head of a private recruitment agency, a man surnamed Hong.

The duck-walk test was not the first of its kind.

[Hong / Recruitment Agency Head: We did it all when we went to Buyeo Agricultural Cooperative last time. We also did it when we went to Anseong Agricultural Cooperative.]

A seasonal worker from the Philippines who came to Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, through Hong two years ago said she felt humiliated by this selection process.

[Esther (Pseudonym) / Filipino Seasonal Worker: Hong said that if I couldn't complete the duck-walk, the agricultural cooperative staff would drop me and I wouldn't be able to go to Korea. That's something they only make you do in prison, right? Why did the Koreans let them do that? Why didn't they stop it?]

The revised Immigration Act, which took effect in January of this year, prohibits anyone other than the state, local governments, and specialized agencies designated by the government from intervening in the recruitment of seasonal workers.

Violators face up to three years in prison or fines of up to 30 million won, a measure aimed at blocking illegal brokers who skim money from the middle.

Hong claims he only acted as an interpreter.

[Hong / Recruitment Agency Head: There is only one thing I do. I translate.]

Paju's explanation is different.

[Paju Official: We told the dispatch agency in Concepcion that we wanted to hire some foreign seasonal workers. I didn't even know where Concepcion was. They suggested, why don't you try using this place as well, and that's how it happened...]

The city also lamented that it is realistically difficult for local governments unfamiliar with local conditions to conduct direct hiring.

[Another Paju Official: It's not easy to do it directly with foreign local governments. An intermediary organization has to be involved.]

With local governments nationwide selecting 110,000 seasonal workers this year, critics are pointing out that the central government should step in instead of local municipalities.

(Reported by Bae Moon-san and Yang Hyun-cheol | Video edited by Lee Sang-min | Designed by Choi Ha-neul | Source: Concepcion, Philippines and Bombo Radyo SNS)

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