International

1.5 million migrant workers in South Korea deprived salary

Jeevan Khattri October 09, 2020

Seoul: More than 1.5 million migrant workers in South Korea have been deprived of their salary that was mentioned in a contract with their employer beforehand, according to data from the Ministry of Labour.

There are approximately 50,000 Nepali migrant workers in the country. The amounts to be paid to the migrant workers from various countries in the world in salary has reached 7.17 trillion South Korean Won between the years 2016 and 2019.

Likewise, the amount to be paid to the workers hit 890 billion SKW in eight months. Most of the workers deprived of salaries are engaged in production companies. The main reason for the workers being deprived of their salaries is the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Legal experts have suggested that the government of the respective countries should provide financial assistance to companies facing economic crisis due to the pandemic. A political party in South Korea has suggested that companies denying salaries to their workers should be fined.