Local farmers are protesting strengthened regulations on living shelters for foreign laborers introduced in the wake of a Cambodian worker’s death, claiming the measures are ill-devised and demanding more support from the government.

In a press conference Tuesday near the Ministry of the Employment and Labor building in Sejong, the Korean Advanced Farmers Federation demanded the government retract the measure that stipulates improved shelter conditions for foreign workers.

“Chaos is growing across agricultural sites as the government started enforcing the changed measure without much time to prepare,” the federation said in a statement.

“It is inevitable for farms employing foreign workers to change their farming plans, and much damage is expected for the sector due to decreased output and delays from difficulty in securing manpower.”

The Labor Ministry announced in December that it will reject employment permit applications by employers that offer unsuitable shelters starting Jan. 1 in response to the death of the Cambodian worker.

The deceased, a woman aged 31, was found dead at a farm in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, in a converted plastic-covered greenhouse with a malfunctioning heating system where the temperature had fallen to minus 18 degrees Celsius.

Initial autopsy results showed that she had died of liver cirrhosis, but civic groups have demanded further investigation and government action to prevent such incidents from recurring.

As the vast majority of foreign agricultural workers in Korea stay in lodging offered by their employers, the ministry also demanded employers provide sufficient information on lodging facilities for prospective foreign workers.

The ministry vowed to toughen supervision of working conditions for foreign workers so that violators of the labor relations law are instructed to rectify their offenses or have their employment permits canceled.

As for foreign workers who are already staying in such plastic homes, the ministry will provide them the choice to change the workplace, as owners of small farms and fishing boats are not expected to immediately find new accommodations for the workers.

According to a Labor Ministry inspection on 3,850 foreign workers at 496 workplaces in the farming and fisheries sector, close to 70 percent said they were living in makeshift structures. Only 25 percent said they were staying in houses, with another 2.6 percent sharing lodging facilities.

Those offering makeshift structures as shelters are required to report their residential usage to local governments, but 56.5 percent had not made the reports. The improvised dwelling units with rooms and toilets were also found to have privacy issues and pose fire hazards.

“Foreign workers are essential for the farming and fisheries sector, and for that reason we will make sure that basic living environment is provided for them through this measure,” Labor Minister Lee Jae-kap said in a statement then.

The federation has opposed the ministry’s moves, saying local farmers lack the time and resources to build new lodgings for their foreign workers.

“The working condition and living standards of foreign workers must be shifted in the right direction on the condition of promoting coexistence of farmers and foreign workers,” the federation demanded.

“The Ministry of Employment and Labor enforced new standards without even looking into dire conditions of the agriculture sector and farmlands, and threatening to take away employment permits is like a death sentence to us.”

It is expected based on the inspection results that many farmers will lose their employment permits for this year’s harvest if they fail to secure new structured shelters for their foreign workers.

The federation has said that it is physically impossible to prepare new buildings in that time frame, and that giving foreign workers liberty to choose their new workplace will result in an exodus of human resources for the majority of farms in need of foreign workers.

The federation also argues that only a small number of farmers neglect the working and living conditions of their foreign workers.

“We are using one (converted) shipping container for each worker, and these containers all have heating and cooling systems as well as showering facilities,” said a public petition to the Blue House posted in December.

The petitioners claim to be a married couple in their 30s in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, who have lived as farmers and employed foreign workers since 2017.

“We also have passed all inspections when obtaining our employment permits, and fire safety devices are installed inside each cargo container. While the death of the foreign worker is to be mourned, many farmers will agree with me that the situation is only a very extreme and minor view of the farming sector.”

By Ko Jun-tae (ko.juntae@heraldcorp.com)