Abusive Hiring Scam Leads to Human Trafficking Plight for Filipino Seasonal Workers in Korea

[Anchor]

Yesterday, we reported on the absurd reality where a local government forced Filipino applicants to do duck-walks during a selection process for seasonal workers. However, the suffering of these seasonal workers did not end upon their arrival in Korea. Some had their wages extorted and even had their passports confiscated. The government has officially recognized them as victims of human trafficking.

Reporter Jeong Banseok has this exclusive report.

[Reporter]

The selection process for seasonal workers held by Paju, Gyeonggi Province, in the Philippines last month.

Applicants were made to do duck-walks under the pretext of physical fitness tests, and Hong, the head of a private recruitment agency, was also present at the site.

Maria, who was raising three children alone in the Philippines, came to Korea four years ago through Hong.

She stated that 450,000 won was transferred from her account to Hong every month while she worked in Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province, and 750,000 won per month while working in Haenam, South Jeolla Province, all without her knowledge.

[Maria (Pseudonym) / Filipino Seasonal Worker: I had no idea where or how my bank account was created. It was set up so that the money would be automatically withdrawn.]

She says her passport was confiscated and that she was even forced to sign a loan agreement as if she had borrowed money from Hong.

[Maria (Pseudonym) / Filipino Seasonal Worker: I was told that if I did not sign the written pledge, I could not come to Korea. It stated that I had to surrender my passport upon entering Korea.]

We visited the Haenam factory where Maria had worked.

[Haenam Employer: I didn't know about that. Should I call him a broker? Through a recruitment agency, just that one person came at the time.]

Although the Haenam County Office, which is responsible for the seasonal worker program, conducted a special inspection two years ago, the damages were not uncovered.

This was because the workers could not answer honestly when asked if their passports had been confiscated.

[Maria (Pseudonym) / Filipino Seasonal Worker: Because someone was watching right beside us, we had no choice but to check 'No'.]

It has been confirmed that the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family recognized nine seasonal workers, including Maria, as victims of human trafficking in November of last year.

Confiscating passports and skimming wages through loan agreements constitutes labor exploitation-type human trafficking, and eight out of the nine victims testified that they entered the country through Hong.

Hong claims that he received entry-related expenses and legitimate compensation for services.

[Hong / Recruitment Agency Head: Both Haenam and Anseong resulted in charges being dropped under the Criminal Act.]

Critics point out that local governments relying on private agencies when hiring seasonal workers further encourages such human trafficking.

[Ko Gi-bok / Director, Center for Migrant's Human Rights: (Local governments) lack international cooperation capacity, so when someone offers to help nearby, they just take it as genuine cooperation. The broker connections are never severed.]

The Mokpo Branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor has sent Hong to the prosecution on charges of intermediate wage exploitation under the Labor Standards Act.

(Videojournalist: Bae Moon-san, Video Editor: Lee Sang-min)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.