▲ This photo, provided by the Ministry of Justice, shows the ministry building. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

slaughterhouse-visa

Slaughterhouse workers enter S. Korea on working visa for 1st time

SEOUL, July 14 (Yonhap) -- Foreign slaughterhouse workers have entered South Korea on work visas, marking the first such case amid personnel shortages in the domestic slaughter industry, the justice ministry said Tuesday.

Twelve such workers have entered the country on E-7-3 visas, or General Skilled Worker Visas, the ministry said, as part of its pilot project to invite 300 slaughterhouse workers over the next two years.

The ministry added slaughterhouses to the list of businesses allowed to employ migrant workers on the E-7-3 visa in September, in response to the industry's repeated calls for skilled foreign personnel to alleviate its severe labor shortages.

The shortages derive mainly from a lack of new entrants amid the aging of the existing workforce, according to market sources.

The ministry has recently abolished the ceiling of two migrant workers per business, allowing employers to recruit foreign workers equivalent to 20 percent of their local staff.

"We will continue to actively reflect the voices from the field into our immigration policy," Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho said.

(END)

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]