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Foreign workers stage a protest, calling for the protection of their human rights.
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They pay into a system they cannot benefit from
Of the monthly pension collected from foreign workers by the National Pension Service (NPS), in the past five years up to 12 billion won (US$12.5 million) has not been returned to foreign laborers that paid into the system. According to data obtained from a parliamentary audit of the NPS by the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee and submitted to Rep. Yang Seoung-jo of the ruling Uri Party, a total of 4,298 foreign workers did not receive back more than 12 billion won total in monthly pension payments when they returned to their respective nations between 2001 and 2005. By nationality, the number of Chinese workers missing compensation was the largest at 2,073, followed by 240 Uzbeks. The average amount of undistributed funds per worker was about 270,000 won. Besides the normal distribution of pension funds following a period of work, when subscribers to the NPS die before completing the minimum 10-year term of payment into the system, or lose membership due to going overseas or losing their nationality, they or their families are supposed to recover the principal amount contributed plus interest. But under the National Pension Law’s Article 102, the repayment of pension fees to foreign workers, done by lump sum, is decided by a mutual agreement signed between South Korea and the workers’ nation. According to the article, workers from nations that have not signed the social security agreement with South Korea cannot have their money returned. But the South Korean government requires all foreign workers to join the system, with the exception of a few nations such as Vietnam, regardless of whether the worker’s country has signed the social security agreement.This means that 4,298 workers who already returned to their nations and 17,695 foreigners currently working in South Korea cannot receive the money they have paid into the system. If adding illegal workers that had previously worked legally and thus contributed to the pension system, the figure goes up. Regarding this, the NPS said that the nation will sign a social security agreement with more countries to pay the pension back to foreign workers. But Rep. Yang said that South Korea should prepare systematic measures to return the pension to those workers. "If the money cannot be returned to them, it should be used for foreign workers’ human rights and improvement of social welfare," he said. Lee Chul-seung, leader of the Joint Committee for Migrant Workers in Korea, said that "most foreign workers are temporary laborers. It is impractical to force them to join the national pension and the employment insurance programs."
