Foreign Workers Power Korea's Southeast as Language, Pay and Living Conditions Test Progress

Factory jobs anchor a growing foreign workforce

Mining and manufacturing employ 59.2 percent of foreign workers in South Korea's southeast, where average annual earnings are about 30 million won and language remains the most common obstacle to daily life. Across Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang, migrant workers help keep factories, refineries and shipyards operating in a region central to the country's exports.

The southeast had about 215,000 foreign residents in 2024. South Gyeongsang accounted for roughly 117,000, followed by Busan with 63,000 and Ulsan with 34,000. Employment figures for 2023 counted 97,972 foreigners aged 15 or older working in the region. The population and employment totals describe different groups in different years.

Foreign workers earn about 30 million won annually on average, equivalent to approximately $21,400 at recent exchange rates. Divided across a year, that is roughly 2.5 million won a month before taxes and deductions. Overtime and shift work increase earnings in many plants, although actual pay depends on the employer, skills and working schedule.

Regular employment accounts for 76.8 percent of foreign workers, described in the regional figures as permanent employees working full time. Day laborers represent 12.7 percent and people working for themselves account for 10.5 percent. Factories that need trained teams for repeated production tasks have reasons to retain workers rather than recruit new people every day.

Satisfaction figures are relatively high despite demanding schedules and separation from home. In 2024, 75.2 percent of foreign workers said they were satisfied with their jobs, 65 percent with their income and 83.2 percent with life in Korea. Language difficulties, loneliness and conditions outside the workplace remain important parts of their experience.

Why the southeast needs so many industrial workers

A central bank study estimated that the southeast produces 40.8 percent of South Korea's automobiles, 27.7 percent of its automotive parts, 79.3 percent of its ships and 47.5 percent of its refined petroleum products. Those figures explain why the region's foreign workforce is concentrated in production rather than spread evenly across occupations.

Ulsan's industrial development began decades ago. Export industries expanded around ports as Korea moved from light manufacturing into heavy and chemical production. The main milestones and later workforce measurements span several periods:

• 1962: Ulsan hosted the first industrial complex.
• 1970s: Korea's shift toward heavy and chemical industries brought more industrial complexes focused on exports to port cities, including Pohang and Busan.
• 2023: The southeast recorded 97,972 employed foreigners aged 15 or older.
• 2024: Foreign residents numbered about 215,000, while surveys recorded workers' satisfaction and daily difficulties.

Shipyards, vehicle assembly plants and petrochemical facilities need line workers, welders, mechanics and logistics crews. Many operate around the clock. Large companies anchor these industries, while thousands of small and medium sized businesses manufacture components or carry out maintenance. Vacancies at those suppliers can affect the production networks around them.

Korea's shrinking and aging population reduces the pool of young applicants for physically demanding jobs and rotating shifts. Smaller firms frequently face persistent vacancies, making migrant recruitment an important way to maintain staffing and meet orders. Employers also benefit when workers stay long enough to learn equipment, safety procedures and team routines.

Who is settling in the region?

Men make up 64.6 percent of foreign residents in the southeast and women 35.4 percent. People in their 30s are the largest age group, at 32.3 percent, followed by those in their 20s at 29.5 percent and those in their 40s at 14.8 percent. Together, people in their 20s and 30s account for 61.8 percent of foreign residents.

The age and sex profile reflects the jobs available in metalworking, shipbuilding, automotive assembly and petrochemicals. These industries draw people in their main working years into roles that can involve long shifts and substantial physical effort.

Vietnamese people form the largest national group, at 22.2 percent. Ethnic Koreans holding Chinese nationality account for 12.4 percent, while other Chinese nationals represent 7.6 percent. Vietnamese migration has grown alongside factory demand, business and education links, and personal networks connecting Vietnamese port cities with Korean industrial areas.

Chinese communities, including ethnic Koreans from China, have long supplied workers to smaller manufacturers and service businesses. Language familiarity and established social networks help people find their way into employment and local life.

Many recruits arrive through group hiring and live in dormitory accommodation near their plants. Colleagues often become the first source of advice about banking, sending money home, health care and public services. Those relationships matter in Busan, Ulsan, Changwon and smaller industrial towns across South Gyeongsang.

How the Employment Permit System works

The Employment Permit System, known as EPS, connects employers facing labor shortages with foreign workers recruited through agreements between governments. It serves small and medium sized companies in manufacturing, construction, agriculture, fisheries and certain service industries.

Public agencies in sending countries manage recruitment under standardized procedures and limits on fees. Applicants typically complete language and skills screening before being matched with employers. Orientation before departure introduces labor rights and workplace expectations.

Contracts in Korea set out base wages, working hours, overtime, accommodation and insurance. Many workers also receive safety training and instructions specific to their plant before beginning their jobs. Formal recruitment and contracts help explain why regular payroll employment is so common among foreign workers in the southeast.

EPS employees are covered by the same basic labor laws as Korean citizens, including rules on wages, overtime, rest days, workplace safety and compensation for industrial injuries. Social insurance participation is also part of the system's protections. Compared with recruitment through private agents in parts of Asia, EPS has reduced recruitment costs and provided formal channels for complaints.

Changing employers remains a sensitive issue because a worker's visa is tied to employment. Policy changes have permitted transfers in defined circumstances, including business closure, unpaid wages or proven abuse. Those routes can reduce the imbalance between an employer controlling a job and a worker whose permission to stay depends on it.

Inspections and the speed of dispute resolution determine how effectively those protections work. Frequent checks and prompt decisions can build confidence. Delays leave some workers facing pressure to accept unpaid hours or unsafe conditions. Interpretation during complaints and safety briefings is especially important for people handling heavy machinery or hazardous materials in shipyards and refineries.

What 30 million won means for a household budget

Foreign workers in business, personal and public services earn about 31 million won a year on average. Mining and manufacturing workers average 30 million won, while construction workers earn about 25 million won. The service category therefore averages 6 million won more annually than construction, using the reported figures.

Skills, overtime and contract arrangements help explain the ranking. A hospital support position or logistics office job may have steadier hours and slightly higher base pay. Construction earnings can be reduced by seasonal work and delays between projects.

Night shifts and weekend work can lift factory earnings above basic pay. Some employers offer temporary bonuses to retain staff when orders peak. Smaller workshops may instead combine lower base wages with longer working hours, so the annual average can cover quite different working lives.

Living costs in the southeast are lower than in Seoul, but workers supporting relatives abroad still face tight budgets. Sending money home often takes priority over leisure, travel or more comfortable accommodation. Food and transportation expenses also reduce the amount available to save or remit.

Company dormitories can lower housing costs and shorten the journey to work. They can also be crowded and located far from city centers, leaving residents with fewer convenient places to spend their free time. Workers renting privately must budget for deposits, rent or monthly room charges as well as other living expenses.

Safety and housing depend on enforcement

Factories and construction sites expose workers to falls, machinery accidents, heat and chemicals. Migrants face greater danger when they cannot follow safety instructions or when employers fail to provide protective equipment. A briefing delivered in Korean may leave a newcomer unsure how to carry out a routine task safely.

Translated training, understandable equipment labels and interpretation during instruction can reduce that gap. Such support is particularly relevant in workplaces where a misunderstanding can expose both the worker and nearby colleagues to danger.

Delayed wages, withheld pay and abusive schedules persist in some workplaces. Labor offices and courts provide routes to seek payment or challenge mistreatment, but fear of retaliation or visa problems can discourage complaints. Faster decisions on disputes and permitted job transfers would help workers act before a problem becomes prolonged.

Employer accommodation is another area requiring checks. Some workers live in container units or crowded rooms of a poor standard. Clear housing requirements and inspections can identify problems without making residents responsible for starting a complaint against the employer providing their home.

People working outside EPS, including those who overstay short visits or move into undeclared jobs in agriculture or construction, are especially vulnerable. Outside formal employment arrangements, they lack basic protections in practice and often avoid hospitals or government offices. Expanding legal recruitment where demand is predictable, checking job brokers more closely and allowing anonymous reports of abuse could reduce opportunities for exploitation.

Language and loneliness shape life after work

Language was the most commonly reported difficulty, cited by 37.4 percent of foreign workers. Another 26.9 percent reported no particular problem, while 17 percent identified loneliness. High satisfaction with life in Korea therefore exists alongside practical obstacles that affect a substantial share of workers.

Basic Korean lessons at work, multilingual signs and interpretation during training can help employees understand tasks and avoid mistakes. Employers and community groups also encounter these language barriers in daily contact with workers. Better communication can improve morale as well as safety and production.

Local governments and civic organizations run evening language courses that help migrants handle banking, medical appointments and public transport. These everyday skills matter beyond the factory gate, where workers may need to explain a symptom, understand a payment or find their way across an unfamiliar city.

Long shifts and distance from family can make loneliness harder to address. Community centers, sports clubs and faith groups provide opportunities to build relationships outside work. Counseling in multiple languages is another form of support, particularly for people whose schedules make ordinary daytime services difficult to attend.

Changing diets bring health concerns

A study of Southeast Asian workers in Korea found changes in eating habits after migration. Participants reported eating more kimchi and seaweed, drinking more coffee and consuming more pizza, while eating less fresh fruit and fewer meals prepared at home.

About 28.2 percent reported worse health after arrival. They often cited difficulty adjusting to unfamiliar foods, greater reliance on instant meals and reduced exercise. For workers already managing long or irregular schedules, meals and physical activity become part of the wider challenge of settling into a new routine.

Employers and local health centers can help by explaining nutrition, identifying affordable local produce and suggesting ways to remain active around shift work. Health support needs to fit workers' actual schedules and budgets, alongside the language assistance that helps them use medical services.

Care work opens another migration debate

Korea's aging population and shortage of care workers have prompted policymakers to test recruitment beyond factories. Seoul launched a pilot bringing in an initial group of foreign household helpers to reduce childcare and domestic workloads, with plans to expand recruitment and include more Southeast Asian countries.

Early feedback raised concerns about low wages, deductions for lodging, unclear job descriptions and keeping recruits in the program. Some workers found better paid opportunities in other sectors. For families and employees alike, uncertainty over duties and hours can make an arrangement difficult to sustain.

Unions and civic groups argue that filling care shortages with cheaper migrant labor risks weakening employment standards. Advocates want clearer contracts, guaranteed minimum wage coverage and transparent working hours. Policymakers are debating how to make care affordable for households while ensuring fair conditions for workers.

The debate matters beyond Seoul. Cities in the southeast face rising demand for elder care at the same time that factories need staff. No date was given for expanding the household helper program or for settling the disputed employment terms.

Manufacturing provides practical lessons for any expansion into care. Recruitment managed by governments, equal application of labor law, language assistance and workable oversight have improved conditions for factory recruits. Applying those features to care work can help protect households and workers while reducing departures from the sector.

Practical changes for workers and employers

Language access is one of the most direct areas for improvement. Brief daily lessons linked to workplace tasks and better translations of safety rules can reduce accidents and defective production. Shared training hubs supported by local governments and employer groups would make such services more accessible to smaller suppliers.

Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang can coordinate weekend classes, legal clinics and financial education. These services would help people manage contracts, household budgets and local life, while community activities offer contact beyond dormitories and production lines.

Faster permission to change jobs after nonpayment or documented harassment would reduce the pressure workers face when an employer controls both their livelihood and their visa arrangements. Practical standards for company rooms, checked during regular inspections, would address housing problems before residents have to complain.

Every recruit also needs the appropriate insurance, including industrial accident coverage and national health insurance where eligible. Enrollment, understandable explanations of benefits and access to assistance are parts of making formal protection useful in daily life.

Recruitment requires continued oversight in Korea and sending countries, with meaningful penalties for illegal fees. Hiring through governments has already reduced costs compared with systems run by agents in parts of Asia. Keeping those channels free of abuse protects workers and helps factories maintain a stable labor supply.

The regional figures connect economic dependence with everyday experience. Employers need people who can stay, learn and work safely. Workers need reliable pay, understandable rules, decent accommodation and a life beyond their shifts. Addressing those needs together would support the industrial communities that depend on migrant labor.

Key Points

• Mining and manufacturing employ 59.2 percent of foreign workers in Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang.
• The southeast had about 215,000 foreign residents in 2024; employment figures counted 97,972 working foreigners aged 15 or older in 2023.
• Average annual earnings are about 30 million won, compared with 31 million won in services and 25 million won in construction.
• Regular employment accounts for 76.8 percent of foreign workers, followed by day labor at 12.7 percent and people working for themselves at 10.5 percent.
• Vietnamese people form the largest national group, at 22.2 percent.
• Job satisfaction reached 75.2 percent, income satisfaction 65 percent and life satisfaction 83.2 percent in 2024.
• Language difficulties affected 37.4 percent, while 17 percent identified loneliness.
• EPS provides formal recruitment and labor protections, while enforcement, job transfers, safety and housing remain areas needing attention.
• Seoul's household helper pilot has extended the debate to care work, including pay, lodging deductions and clearly defined duties.