[Unofficial translation provided by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

“Migrant workers’ rights violations: 77% of complaints related to unpaid wages”, October 2 2025

During a recent reporting period focused on labour rights violations affecting migrant workers, it was found that 77% of complaints submitted to the Ministry of Employment and Labour were related to unpaid wages.

According to data received by Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Yong-woo from the Ministry on 2 May, a total of 1,247 complaints were filed between 11 and 29 August. Of these, 965 cases (77.4%) concerned unpaid wages or severance pay. This was followed by complaints of workplace bullying (10 cases, 0.8%) and breaches of employment contracts (8 cases, 0.6%).

[…]

The scale of wage theft experienced by migrant workers has continued to rise in recent years. Within just the first seven months of this year, the number of reported cases has already surpassed the total figure for the whole of last year. In 2024, a total of 9,529 incidents were reported, with the total amount of unpaid wages reaching KRW 110.84 billion. As of July 2025, 11,637 incidents had already been reported, amounting to KRW 101.29 billion in unpaid wages.