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| Undocumented foreigners line up to make voluntary departure reports at the Seoul Immigration Office located in Yangcheon District, southwestern Seoul on March 6. / Yonhap |
By Kim Se-jeong
The worsening coronavirus epidemic here is hitting rural areas hard as a growing number of foreign workers, who have become the backbone of Korea's agriculture and fisheries industries, are returning to their home countries.
According to the Ministry of Justice, Thursday, the number of migrant workers, including those overstaying their visas, leaving Korea has been increasing since the highly-contagious virus wreaked havoc on Asia's fourth-largest economy a month ago.
The ministry said 5,000 undocumented foreigners left Korea in the last week of February alone ― the week the number of the coronavirus patients skyrocketed due to the spread among Shincheonji Church of Jesus followers.
Between December and that time, the number was around 1,000 per week. The number of departing legal immigrants wasn't available for the story.
"I overstayed in Korea because I didn't get paid. But, amid the rising number of new coronavirus cases, I decided to work this out from home. I want to go back home soon," an anonymous foreign worker, 48, was quoted as saying by a local newspaper.
The Korean agriculture sector relies a lot on foreign workers. According to the justice ministry, as of the end of last year, 44,000 foreign laborers were working in the agriculture and fishery sectors, almost 3.6 percent of the industries' entire workforce.
The departure of foreign workers is not the only problem ― those scheduled to arrive to work in Korea are delaying or canceling their trips.
"A broker in the Philippines got in contact and said they would not send workers because of the new coronavirus," said an official at Seongju County in North Gyeongsang Province.
The county was supposed to receive 39 workers from the Philippines in the first half of this year. "We'd like to work with them but we understand the situation. The farmers who were expecting them aren't so happy with what's happening but there's nothing that can be done."
Chamoe, a Korean yellow melon, is the main farming business for the county, and the farmers are in great need of labor between April and June to harvest the fruit. The labor shortage has been filled with seasonal workers for several years.
An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said, "In the case of Vietnam, workers can't fly to Korea due to the coronavirus. In the Philippines, some local governments won't let their citizens come to Korea. If the shortage persists, our agriculture sector could be affected a lot."
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