The variety of international nationals illegally working as supply staff in South Korea has surged by 50 p.c for the reason that Ministry of Justice initiated a crackdown on unlawful employment practices within the trade in 2023.
In accordance with the Justice Ministry, 171 instances of international nationals being illegally employed in meals supply companies and parcel companies had been detected as of July 2024, up from 117 instances detected in the entire of 2023.
If this pattern continues, the ministry expects such numbers to double by the top of this 12 months.
The nationalities of the supply staff caught has diversified from final 12 months.
Whereas Vietnamese nationals accounted for 94 of the 117 instances final 12 months, as of late June 2024, and Uzbek nationals took up many of the unlawful employment instances, with 66 instances, with 51 drivers being Vietnamese.
For Uzbek nationals particularly, the variety of unlawful employment instances this 12 months have seen a sixfold improve, as solely eight instances had been reported final 12 months of unlawful supply staff from Uzbekistan.
This 12 months, the ministry additionally noticed extra instances of unlawful staff from Malaysia, Russia and Pakistan, recording as much as eight, seven and 5 instances, respectively.
Relating to the rise in international nationals employed as supply staff, the ministry defined that “the first cause is the latest improve in demand for supply personnel.”
Whereas the supply market grew quickly through the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in a rise within the workforce, it not too long ago noticed a decline for the primary time in supply employee numbers by 5.5 p.c in 2023, based on information from the Ministry of Employment and Labor launched in August.
Although solely these with an F-2, F-5 and F-6 visa are allowed to work in supply in Korea, some sought to skirt the constraints by utilizing others’ alien registration playing cards, whereas others had been on pupil visas.
In apply, supply service corporations resembling Baedal Minjok solely permits international supply staff if they’ve the suitable visa, whereas Coupang Eats, one other supply service firm, doesn’t settle for international supply personnel no matter their visa kind.
Nevertheless, regardless of these limitations, observers level out that verifying who truly makes the meals deliveries is tough, as most transactions happen with out bodily contact between the supply personnel and the employer.
One drawback with such illegally employed supply staff is that it’s tougher to carry them accountable when an accident takes place. Supply personnel who impersonate others’ identities or use pretend license plates typically flee from the scene.
In accordance with the Immigration Act, international nationals who’re discovered to be staying and dealing illegally in Korea could be ordered to go away the nation. Resulting from this regulation, quite a lot of drivers averted authorized processes after accidents happen.
For instance, on Sept. 1, a person who was illegally working as a supply driver fled from an accident website the place he hit a 4-year-old pedestrian in Gwangju. After being caught by the police, he reportedly confessed to the police that he fled as he was “scared that his unlawful standing can be found.”
