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An image of work at a salt farm (The photo is unrelated to the specific contents of the article). / Yonhap News

The government will strengthen its on-site response systems involving relevant ministries and local governments to thoroughly root out illegal acts against salt farm workers, such as physical assault, forced labor, and wage exploitation.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on July 2 that they will establish and operate a joint response system with the National Police Agency and local governments, triggered by a recent case of assault and labor exploitation against a worker with intellectual disabilities at a salt farm in Yeonggwang-gun, Jeollanam-do.

This measure takes into account the structural reality of salt farms, where harsh labor conditions and isolated working environments make it difficult for external monitoring and protection to reach workers even when labor rights violations occur.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Labor sent out an emergency official letter to all 765 salt farms nationwide, urging them to conduct self-diagnostics on establishing basic labor order and complying with labor laws. This allows business owners to inspect themselves on issues such as assault, employment contracts, and minimum wage compliance, and to make immediate improvements.

The Mokpo Regional Labor Office, which has jurisdiction over Sinan-gun—where 80% of all salt farms in South Korea are located—is currently conducting unannounced patrol inspections at 55 salt farm workplaces to verify compliance with labor laws regarding overdue wages and assault.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries plans to strengthen cooperation among related agencies during its joint full-scale survey of employment conditions at salt farms conducted with local governments. If any indications of labor law violations or human rights abuses, such as assault, forced labor, or wage exploitation, are identified, they will be immediately reported to the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the National Police Agency.

Furthermore, the hotline previously operated to respond to human rights abuses against migrant workers will be expanded to cover cases involving domestic workers. This will keep the cooperative system running at all times so that joint investigations can begin immediately upon detecting any labor rights violations at salt farms in island areas. In particular, the Ministry of Labor plans to apply a zero-tolerance principle to violations reported by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the National Police Agency, responding sternly by immediately initiating criminal bookings if assault or forced labor is confirmed.

Kim Young-hoon, Minister of Employment and Labor, stated, "Pre-modern labor exploitation that tramples on human rights, such as physical assault and forced labor, cannot be tolerated for any reason." He added, "We will track down labor exploitation and human rights abuses to the very end and respond sternly under the zero-tolerance principle against legal violations."

                                                                                                           Kim Bo-young