It has been revealed that foreign workers working in South Korea were not paid 767 million 91 thousand dollars last year. This information was made public on the basis of complaints filed by migrant workers at the labor office.

According to the report submitted by Korea's Ministry of Labor to Parliamentarian of Labor and Environment Committee Ee Young Woo on February 18, 23 thousand 254 migrant workers will not be paid in 2024. The details of how many workers in which country are not getting paid have not been disclosed.

According to Uday Rai, president of Migrant Trade Union (MTU), the official trade union of migrant workers working in Korea, the number of migrant workers is double that of Korean workers (citizens). Last year, 283,200 workers filed unpaid complaints at the Labor Office, which is 8.2 percent of the total number of workers in Korea. "There are 20 million local workers in Korea, and there are 300,000 locals who do not get paid. Out of 1.3 million migrant workers, 23,000 have not received their salary,' he said.

In Korea, local and foreign workers have not been paid 1 billion 696 million 80 thousand dollars . In the previous year 2023, 27 thousand 155 workers did not get salary of 842 million 3 thousand dollars according to MTU . The situation of not getting salary is not normal. This is scary," Rai said, "some migrant workers have not filed a complaint at all. They are waiting to see if the moneylender will pay them.'

There is a minimum of $2,000 for not getting paid. Most workers in the construction, manufacturing, service and agriculture sectors have not been paid. Nepali workers are employed in fields other than construction. "Those who have not been paid can file a complaint with the labor office directly or through their lawyer," said Rai. But, for that, all the paper procedures have to be completed.

Rai says that the Korean government does not show the right path to the workers coming from Nepal. Migrant workers here have the right to join a trade union. If you are not given quality housing, decent work and salary, you can file a complaint,'' he said, 'but like the workers coming from Nepal, you are taught to show work only. No matter what the situation is, Nepali workers have to endure.'

Nepalis who have arrived through the Employment Permit System (EPS) are working as unskilled workers at low wages in small and medium industries. The Nepali Embassy in Seoul does not regularly send information with full details to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Labour, Employment and Social Security regarding the Nepalese who are in trouble due to such work. The Ministry of Labor has arranged to keep a labor counselor like a deputy secretary in the embassy. 

According to the Nepali Embassy, ​​there are 5 to 20 complaints and inquiries from Nepali workers working in Korea and their relatives every day. These include labor approval, distribution of passports, consular services, mental and physical problems, rescue, relief, compensation, search for shelter, change of company, injuries and treatment, unpaid wages.

According to Rai, the president of MTU, there are many workers who do not complain due to the threats of employers. Some employers have been threatening workers. Some people don't even know the process of making a complaint,' he said, 'Some people seem to be in doubt whether they can get justice or not. There are many migrant workers who do not complain. If we add that amount as well, the salary that the migrant workers do not get will be more than this. Complaining about unpaid salary takes too much time and if the visa expires and another visa is obtained, they cannot work . This is another problem.'

There are also migrant workers who leave unpaid wages. "The law that the government will pay the salary that is not given by the employer is in force . But this is not applicable to agriculture with less than 5 workers,' he said, 'Even so, the workers are facing problems.'

There is a provision that workers who have gone through EPS cannot change their workplace (company) at will. Migrant workers who arrived before October 19, 2023 (new and committed) can change companies with the consent of the company owner. However, in order to find this job, the rule of being allowed to go to all places in Korea was changed and a provision was made to work only in 5 designated places. In this too, new rules have been implemented after February 7, 2025.