[Editorial] Abolish 'Industrial Trainee' Program

For how much longer will one have to see migrant workers who come to Korea as "industrial trainees" be exploited and have their rights violated? It makes you feel ashamed of yourself yet again when you look at the cases compiled by 25 civic groups and civil rights organizations. Instances where they are hurting their health working in conditions one of our own would never endure or where they suffer exploitation while not even being paid minimum wage continue to be commonplace. It is shameful that it still happens in a country on the threshold of becoming an advanced nation and that makes the world its market.

When the industrial trainee program was begun in 1993, the stated goal was to transfer advanced technology to developing nations. However, it was essentially a channel for accepting outside labor as "students" and exploiting them. As "students" instead of laborers, there were strict restrictions on their ability to change places of work, they faced the constant threat of deportation and regular labor laws did not apply, so the program was born with the potential for there to be exploitation and other rights abuses. At this point your lips hurt to even mention the abuses and what that does to Korea's image. It is not just those few bad companies that have a lot of responsibility to bear. The government does as well, since it has known of the problems for years yet has maintained the program.

The "work permit" program, a strict process adopted in 2004 as an alternative to the industrial trainee program, is a working smoothly. Therefore, there is no reason to delay abolishing the trainee program. Do not also an absolute majority of companies prefer the better quality labor provided by the work permit program, and the fact that there are less legalities? The companies that still like the trainee program need to stop relying on what comes easiest, and instead be satisfied with the normal framework provided by the work permit program, even if it means paying a little more in wages. They should not listen lightly when Kim Hae Seong, the pastor at a migrant labor church, says Korea will be neglected by the international community if it treats foreign workers recklessly for being "cheap labor."

The Hankyoreh, 12 January 2006.

[Translations by Seoul Selection]