President Lee Jae Myung (fifth from left) on Sept. 2 chairs a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul. (Office of the President)

By Charles Audouin

Foreign workers who report their employers for unpaid wages are exempt from deportation even if they illegally stay in the country.

The Ministry of Justice on Sept. 3 said in a news release, "To bolster the protection of labor rights and the promotion of human rights for foreign laborers, we will revise legislation and improve related systems by adding foreign workers who are victims of unpaid wages to the exempt list for notice of deportation."

This is a follow-up measure to back pay issues discussed at a Sept. 2 Cabinet meeting chaired by the Office of the President.

Article 84 (Duty to Report) of the Immigration Act stipulates that if central and local government officials in the course of performing their duties learn that a foreign national is staying illegally, they must inform this to the relevant immigration branch or government office.

The ministry said, "Thus foreign workers suffering damage like unpaid wages hesitate to report to related organizations because of fear of exposing their illegal stay and risk of deportation."

The temporary exemption will also apply to foreign workers who await deportation after receiving notification if they are confirmed to be owed back pay. The ministry will also set regulations that limit the hiring of foreign labor by employers who fail to pay wages.

"These systematic improvements will remove cases of deportation of foreign workers without receiving their pay," Minister of Justice Jung Sung-ho said. "We will reflect the modern value of respecting the human rights of workers to carry out the Republic of Korea's role as a responsible member of the international community."

caudouin@korea.kr