In May 2025, The Korea Times reported that South Korea’s seasonal worker programme is “facing growing scrutiny” following the US government’s import ban on salt from the country’s largest salt farm due to forced labour allegations (see more here).

Concerns have been raised that other Korean exports in agriculture and fishing could also be subjected to import bans, amid allegations of labour exploitation for migrant workers hired through the country’s seasonal worker programme.

The article includes a description of a case impacting two Filipino seasonal workers who experienced wage theft by their labour supplier. The article says that the broker “set up an electronic transfer system tied to the workers' Korean bank accounts when they opened them”, and threatened the workers when they sought help.

An attorney representing the workers said it is suspicious that NongHyup Bank and local governments “may be turning a blind eye to these brokers actions”. The attorney says NongHyup Bank is commonly used by seasonal migrant workers to open wage accounts.

In June, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre invited NongHyup Bank to respond to the article. It did not respond.