S. Korea labor market open to skilled RI workers only

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

To follow up the memorandum of understanding (MOU) Indonesia and South Korea signed on July 13, the two governments have agreed on the repatriation of around 7,000 Indonesian illegal workers now employed in the East Asian country.

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said, after receiving his South Korean counterpart Kim Dae Huan on Monday, that in the absence of illegal migrant workers, only skilled Indonesian workers would be sent to South Korea for jobs in the formal sector.

As a consequence, they would be fully protected under South Korean labor law.

"We are of the same view that all Indonesian workers working illegally in South Korea will be deported and required to obtain proper documentation before applying for jobs in the formal sector. It will allow South Korea to impose taxes on them and the Indonesian workers to demand payment in line with the standard wage level there," he said.

The two ministers agreed that the deportation should be confirmed immediately, but they did not set a timeframe.

Indonesia and Malaysia had previously agreed on mass deportation of around 800,000 Indonesian illegal migrant workers early next year.

According to South Korean labor law, foreign workers must speak Korean, apart from possessing a skill.

The MOU signed in South Korea last month says the labor recruitment will be carried out by the two governments, instead of by private agencies. It also reduces the recruitment fee to below Rp 10 million (US$1,086) from the current Rp 30 million.

The MOU has raised opposition from many labor exporters who were not involved in the drafting of the agreement.

Nuwa Wea said he intentionally ignored the companies due to their failure to stop illegal workers being supplied to South Korea.

Separately, Director General for Labor Placement Overseas at the manpower ministry I Gusti Made Arka said South Korea was in need of 17,000 foreign workers, who would likely come from Indonesia, Mongolia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.

"South Korea has yet to set a quota for Indonesia but they are determined to recruit as many Indonesian workers as possible to help us cope with our unemployment problem," he said.

Monthly salaries of foreign workers employed in the formal sector in South Korea range from Rp 3 million to Rp 7 million, depending on placement and skills.

Kim paid the courtesy call on Nuwa Wea while a demonstration was staged by over 150 workers from PT Sarasa Nugraha, a South Korean investment textile company in Tangerang, Banten.

Both Kim and his aides declined to comment on labor disputes involving South Korean investors here.

The Central Committee for the Settlement of Industrial Disputes (P4P) decided last week to require the management of PT Sarasa Nugraha to pay the workers' monthly salaries from January to July of this year, and severance pay in accordance with Article 56 of Law No. 13/2003 on labor.

Nuwa Wea has expressed disappointment at the firm's move to take the matter to the State Administrative Court, instead of complying with the P4P ruling, saying it was an attempt to buy time and was fruitless, as the decision was final in accordance with the law.