외국인고용법에 대한 비판적 검토 ― 규제와 보호를 중심으로 ―

Abstract

With the unprecedented economic growth of the nation 1980s there was severe shortage of unskilled workers in Korea. Korea’s well educated young people avoided so-called “3D” jobs - dangerous, dirty and difficult. Many industries have solved the problem by looking for foreign workers. Although the use of unskilled foreign workers has never been officially allowed by immigration authorities, many unskilled workers have entered the country to fill the demand. In response to this problem the Korean government has implemented the Industrial Trainee Program, which allows the industries to import foreign workers from developing Asian countries in 1993. It provided work for foreigners as trainees in small and medium-sized businesses. However, these workers were considered trainees and not official employees, so they could not receive protection under Korean labour laws. On 14 February 1995 Guidelines for the Protection and Management of Foreign Industrial Trainees provided legal and social welfare for migrant workers. On 16 August 2003 was The Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers, which states that “a foreign worker shall not be given discriminatory treatment on the ground that he/she is a foreigner”, put into force, The E-9 Non-professional Employment visa was launched in order to hire foreigners to work in the manual labour field. The visa is only limited to people that come from 16 Asian countries. However, the Employment Permit System hinders foreign workers from choosing their workplaces without permission from their employers. The workers can work for up to three years, after which the stay can be extended for another one year and 10 months, if the employer agrees. The Constitutional Court ruled in 2011 it is not a violation of rights to regulate foreign laborers in changing their workplace. On the other side, Korea has appeared to largely accept overseas ethnic Koreans such as the Koreans of China and other Asians. Under the Employment Permit System launched in 2004 for foreign worker registration. Most of those registered are Koreans, mostly Chinese nationals of Korean descent. The vast majority of foreign workers in Korea come from other parts of Asia with most coming from China, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Central Asia. In view of the decline of birthrate and the increase of the aged over 65, migrant workers have played an unprecedentedly important role in the Korean economy. So without them the Korean industries would be paralyzed. In this regard, it is necessary to research on the legal status of migrant workers. Especially, it is to ask, if all foreigners who are members of a liberal society enjoy the fundamental (social and political as well as civil) rights and what kind of related issues are there with regard to the status of foreign employees.—