(Goesan=Yonhap News) Reporter Yoon Woo-yong = North Chungcheong Goesan County announced on the 12th that it plans to significantly expand the scale of foreign seasonal workers, known as "filial rural sons," to around 1,000 people next year. The county explained that this is a measure taken due to the daily situation of a shortage of rural labor, and the county's seasonal worker operation model has become a nationwide success story. To achieve this, the county plans to re-admit around 350 skilled workers who have received a positive response from farmers, and also secure workers from Laos. This year, 684 people entered and helped with farm labor. A county official said, "This year, we expect foreign seasonal workers to save more than 5.8 billion won in labor costs," and added, "We will continue to conduct checks on living environments, on-site consultations, and human rights protection activities to protect the workers." The county first introduced the foreign seasonal worker system nationwide in 2015.