Philippines finds illegal recruitment of seasonal workers dispatched to South Korea...Some interruptions

Recruitment has been suspended in some provinces after illegal cases of Korean brokers receiving fees from workers were detected while recruiting seasonal workers from the Philippines.

According to local media outlet Rappler, the Philippine Ministry of Migration and Labor has put the recruitment process on hold in at least seven provinces in connection with illegal recruitment of seasonal workers.

However, I did not mention the name of the province.

The Ministry of Migration and Labor explained that it has confirmed at least 37 cases of illegal recruitment in connection with the seasonal worker dispatch project and received related complaints from 118 people.

"One of our main concerns is to get rid of the broker system," he said. "We don't want people to go around the community and illegally hire (seasonal workers) and demand fees, especially for seasonal job applicants."

In the past, the Philippines signed an agreement with Korean local governments to send seasonal workers at each local government level, but Korean brokers were in charge of recruiting dispatches, leading to controversy that workers were unfairly labored in Korea with excessive commission burdens.

Accordingly, the Philippine government has decided to proceed with all seasonal worker recruitment procedures through the Ministry of Migration and Labor since February last year.

Since the change in the dispatch system, the Ministry of Migration and Labor has so far dispatched 600 seasonal workers abroad, of which 4,112 are currently working in Korea.

Earlier this month, Rappler reported a case in which Korean brokers received high fees from workers during the recruiting process for seasonal workers in the Philippines.

A worker who was dispatched to Korea in April last year paid a commission of 70,000 Philippine pesos (about 1.66 million won) to the broker, and the guarantor made a contract to pay 500,000 Philippine pesos (about 11.9 million won) to the broker if he did not work according to the contract.