The Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Ministry of Justice on Dec. 29 announced stronger institutional support to help foreign workers recover unpaid wages. Shown are laborers wearing traditional Vietnamese hats on July 23 dig for potatoes at a farm of a village in Gangneung, Gangwon-do Province. (Yonhap News)

By Aisylu Akhmetzianova

Stronger institutional support will seek to help foreign workers owed back pay quickly and more effectively.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Ministry of Justice on Dec. 29 said labor inspectors will visit the country's five detention centers for foreign nationals every two weeks to receive cases and offer consultations.

This is a follow-up to the Ministry of Justice's recent exemption on mandatory reporting of foreign workers with unpaid wages in the country illegally and their deportation.

The inspectors will do their jobs at five such centers in cities with a high proportion of foreign workers: Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do Province; Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do Province: Yeosu, Jeollanam-do Province; Incheon; and Ulsan. After assessing operational results, such officials could also be sent to 14 similar facilities run by the Korea Immigration Service.

Grievance counselors at the centers and the Ministry of Justice's detention facilities for foreign nationals will preemptively gather information on employers and the damage suffered by international workers and pass the data to the Ministry of Employment and Labor. The proper equipment and interpretation service will also be provided at a center to allow the inspectors to hold consultations and investigate.

The country's 19 detention centers will provide guidelines on unpaid wages for foreign workers in English, Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai.

If inspectors confirm unpaid wages, the immigration office having jurisdiction will decide to temporarily lift a detention order on a foreign worker and help resolve the back pay issue.

aisylu@korea.kr