Reports of workplace harassment in South Korea involving migrant workers more than tripled from 65 in 2020 to 225 in 2024. - PHOTO: EPA via The Straits Times/ANN
SEOUL (The Korea Herald/ANN): A South Korean man has been sentenced to one year’s jail for assaulting a female migrant worker at his workplace.
The man, who is in his 40s, was found guilty by the Suwon District Court of kicking a Vietnamese migrant worker in her 20s in the face, court officials said on Aug 29.
“The defendant committed a very serious level of violence against the victim, who was his subordinate at the workplace, and the victim is believed to have suffered not only physical injuries but also psychological pain as a result,” Judge Seol Il-young said as he handed down the sentence.
Prosecutors had asked for two years’ jail, given the grave nature of the offence.
The assault took place on May 19 at a food company in Yongin, Gyeonggi province, where the victim was working under the assailant’s supervision. While packing eggs, he punched and kicked her in the face and body, leaving her with bruises and injuries that required two weeks of medical care, according to police.
During questioning, the man told police he assaulted the Vietnamese worker during a quarrel, claiming he lost his temper because he thought she was “disrespecting” him.
Growing migrant workforce, rising violence
According to Statistics Korea, the number of officially registered migrant workers in South Korea stood at 1.01 million as at December 2024, up about 150,000 from 2023. Including undocumented workers, the figure is estimated at around 1.4 million to 1.5 million, officials said.
As the migrant workforce grows, cases of workplace harassment against them have also surged in recent years.
Reports of workplace harassment involving migrant workers more than tripled from 65 in 2020 to 225 in 2024, according to data from the Ministry of Employment and Labour cited by Representative Kim Wi-sang of the ruling People Power Party.
As at May, there were 112 cases in 2025.
Advocacy groups for migrant workers argue that workplace harassment is far more widespread than official figures suggest, as most cases are handled internally and excluded from official statistics.
“About 70 per cent of migrant workers are employed at businesses with fewer than 30 people, and many of them work at workplaces with fewer than five. That means much more harassment goes unseen,” said Mr Jeong Young-seop, an executive member of the Migrant Workers’ Equality Alliance.
“In many cases, when migrant workers say they want to transfer after suffering verbal or physical abuse, employers see it as defiance and retaliate by not paying wages, which makes their situation even worse.” THE KOREA HERALD/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK
