Authorities in South Korea’s Jeonbuk State have ordered local governments to check whether foreign seasonal workers have had their passports withheld after concerns were raised over the handling of migrant workers’ documents in Jeongeup.
The case came to light after a Filipina seasonal worker, identified as Karen by SBS, said she had been without her passport for more than four months. She reportedly handed the document to Jeongeup City shortly after arriving in South Korea in early May to complete foreigner-registration procedures.
According to SBS, a city official initially said the passport was being held under an agreement with a Philippine local government. However, when the official was asked to provide the memorandum of understanding, the city acknowledged that it did not contain any provision allowing passports to be kept.
The official later referred to previous cases in which seasonal workers had left their assigned workplaces, saying the city had taken steps to prevent similar departures.
A Justice Ministry immigration investigator who visited the site reportedly instructed officials to return the passports. Jeongeup subsequently brought out the stored documents.
The city later said it had temporarily kept passports belonging to around 60 seasonal workers because of administrative difficulties and that all of the documents had since been returned.
Yonhap reported on September 22 that a migrant-rights organization had made a broader allegation, saying Jeongeup had collected passports from around 160 seasonal workers over a period of about two years.
Jeongeup disputed that figure. The city said 59 passports had been returned late after being collected for administrative work connected with workers’ residence status. It attributed the delays to a shortage of staff.
The city also denied taking the passports by force or holding them to stop workers from leaving their assigned workplaces.
The migrant-rights organization disputed that explanation, saying a city official had referred to preventing workers from leaving when representatives visited Jeongeup on September 18.
The case has drawn attention to existing safeguards for foreign seasonal workers. SBS reported that Jeongeup carried out a human-rights inspection of seasonal workers in late May. A Justice Ministry inspection checklist also includes questions about whether workers’ passports have been taken.
Following the controversy, Jeonbuk State instructed all local governments in the province to examine whether similar cases have occurred and to take appropriate action.
A provincial official said future inspections would include direct interviews with migrant workers to determine whether their passports had been retained and to prevent similar situations from occurring.
The passport issue has raised concerns about how seasonal workers are treated during administrative procedures and whether migrant workers can retain control of important personal documents while working in South Korea.