On November 26, the Gyeonggi Agricultural and Fisheries Promotion Agency signed a tripartite agreement with the Gyeonggi Foreigner Welfare Center Directors’ Council and the Gyeonggi Foreigner Human Rights Support Center to “promote the human rights of seasonal foreign workers”.

Approximately 10 people attended the signing ceremony held at the Gyeonggi Agricultural and Fishery Promotion Agency, including Gyeonggi Agricultural and Fishery Promotion Agency Director Choi Chang-soo, Gyeonggi Foreigner Welfare Center Directors’ Council Chair Kim Yong-guk, and Gyeonggi Foreigner Human Rights Support Center Director Oh Gyeong-seok.

The Gyeonggi Foreigner Welfare Center Directors’ Council is an organization composed of about 10 foreigner welfare centers in the province. It develops various policies to support the settlement of foreign immigrants, including medical and housing counseling and multicultural talent development.

The Gyeonggi Foreigner Human Rights Support Center is an organization that counsels foreign workers on their human rights and researches ways to protect their rights against discrimination. It also provides legal and labor advice.

The agreement aims to promote the human rights of seasonal foreign workers, whose numbers are increasing due to shortages of rural labor, so as to help them adapt to rural life and build sustainable agriculture and rural communities.

Each organization plans to provide seasonal foreign workers with communication support, such as interpretation, human rights counseling, and legal advice, and to conduct awareness-raising training with regard to seasonal foreign workers.

“We signed this agreement so that seasonal foreign workers and farmers can coexist,” said Gyeonggi Agricultural and Fisheries Promotion Agency Director Choi Chang-soo. “We will do our best to address concerns about human rights violations against seasonal foreign workers and help them smoothly adapt to rural life.”

The Gyeonggi Agricultural and Fisheries Promotion Agency is promoting Seasonal Foreign Worker Operation Management Support Project through the operation of the Gyeonggi Agricultural Human Resources Support Center, which includes on-site consultations on human rights related to the working environment of seasonal foreign workers and education to improve employer awareness.