Agriculture minister criticizes proposal to lower minimum wage for migrant workers

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryung speaks during a press conference at the ministry’s office in Sejong, Monday. Yonhap

By Ko Dong-hwan

Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Song Mi-ryung Monday criticized a proposed move by the Bank of Korea and others to exclude migrant workers in certain sectors from the eligible list for the country’s minimum wage, saying it disregards how much foreign workers are contributing to the country’s agricultural industry.

Song denounced the idea that if the country approves foreign migrants to work in the care service industry here, their wages should not be subject to the country’s minimum wage of 9,860 won ($7.27) per hour. The idea was brought forward by the central bank in March when it released a report on how to resolve the worker shortage and rising costs in the industry for older people and patients.

The bank proposed opening the industry to “non-professional” foreign nationals with E-9 visas and, in order to guarantee advantages to Korean workers, paying the foreign workers less than the minimum wage. The proposal drew support from President Yoon Suk Yeol and Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jung-sik, while advocacy groups for migrant workers condemned the idea.

During a press conference at the ministry’s office in Sejong, Song said migrant workers should be treated fairly, citing an example on Jeju Island. She said that foreign workers will provide greater service for the country if Koreans treat them without discrimination.

“Korean farmers in a local agricultural cooperative of the island have renovated an old resort mansion there to transform it into a new dormitory for foreign workers who were each given a private room,” Song said. “The Korean employers offered workers special treats on their birthdays. They treated the foreigners as their family members rather than laborers. I heard that such efforts impressed them and led to emotional attachment, making some of them cry as they left their workplaces.”

Song said that migrant workers will hopefully start working for restaurants of all types — even Korean cuisine — as the ministry is now in talks with the Ministry of Employment and Labor to expand the workplace coverage for E-9 workers here. Adding foreign nationals to the domestic restaurant industry is intended to resolve a worker shortage and mitigate rising wages that are pushing restaurant owners to raise consumer prices.

Rising food prices in Korea were one of the highlights of the conference, regarding which Song said she is focusing on stabilizing supply for domestic demand at all costs, including controlled imports.

“To control market prices, we’ve already been importing more than we export to secure a supply for domestic demand,” Song said. “But to ensure safety of the imported foods, we’re conducting stringent quality inspections. However, this takes time.”

Last year, Korea exported $9.1 billion worth of natural produce and food products while importing $37.7 billion of such products.

Song said that to better prepare the country for climate change and extreme weather conditions that are causing damage to natural produce, the ministry will invest more money for research and development this year and work with the country’s top weather and statistics agencies to prepare a joint task force to improve accuracy of weather predictions and issue more effective measures.

“From now on, our targets will go beyond fruit and vegetables to include all foods produced here to ensure safe and sound supply in the long term,” Song said. “More vertical farms will be introduced for crops and, if the method doesn’t fit certain crops, they will be relocated to better farmlands.”