Introduction of Agricultural Trainee System for Foreigners

Introduction of Agricultural Trainee System for Foreigners. July. 31, 2002 22:03. by Joong-Hyun Park sanjuck@donga.com.

In late 2002, at the earliest, a new system called “agricultural trainee system” will be introduced, allowing foreign workers to work at local livestock farms legally. The system is similar to the existing “industrial trainee system.”

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has announced, on Wednesday, that it would start a new program in November to permit foreign workers to work in the agricultural sector as trainees, after consulting with the Ministry of Labor and other related government departments.

Under the new program, agricultural trainees can stay 3 years, 1 year as trainees and 2 years as employees, and they will work at pig farmers, poultry keepers, or horticultural businesses, year round. The Ministry plans to accept 5000 workers as agricultural trainees, and ethnic Koreans from Uzbekistan and China will be preferred.

“By September, the Ministry will first set regulations for the program and then decide on how to select the trainees. Therefore, the foreign workers might begin working early next year,” said So Man-ho, director of Agricultural Policy Bureau under the Agriculture Ministry.

According to an official at the Ministry, livestock farms suffering labor shortages have demanded for such a program for a long time. He added that the new system would be better in stopping the spread of livestock diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease than in the current situation, in which farmers are forced to employ illegal foreigners.

“At present, 2000-3000 foreigners including ethnic Koreans from China are estimated to work at those farms,” said Park Soon-chul, senior official with the Korea Swine Association. “The cases of foot-and-mouth disease in May are highly likely to have occurred in Korea through those foreigners, and therefore the government should induce them to enter the country legally after going through a proper quarantine procedure by setting up a legal framework.