Police have launched an investigation after a foreign seasonal worker in his 30s was found dead after disappearing while working in a field in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province.

According to police and fire authorities yesterday (August 10), A, a Lao national, was found dead at around 7:00 PM on August 8 in a thicket near a farm in Sejongdaewang-myeon, Yeoju.

At around 1:40 PM the previous day (August 7), A told a coworker that he suddenly felt unwell while planting crop seeds in the farm field where he worked, and after resting in the shade, he suddenly disappeared.

Responding to the farm owner's report, police and fire authorities found A dead in a thicket about 200 meters away from the field after roughly 28 hours of searching.

A, who left behind a husband and children in his home country, entered South Korea on August 5 on a seasonal worker visa with an 8-month stay condition and had been working at the farm starting the following day, August 6.

It was found that he had been working outdoors in the field since 7:00 AM on the day he went missing.

Police are leaving open the possibility that A died from a heat-related illness and plan to conduct an autopsy on the body to determine the exact cause of death.

Meanwhile, a heavy heatwave alert had been in effect for the area where A died since August 3, and temperatures at the time of his disappearance were recorded at 36.2°C (97°F).

(Photo: Yonhap News)