(Wando=Yonhap News) Reporter Cho Geon-yeong = The entry procedure for seasonal workers from the Philippines in Wando, South Jeolla Province, which had been suspended, has resumed ahead of the Kim Yang-sik harvest.
The office of Democratic Party Representative Park Ji-won (Haenam, Wando, Jindo) announced that the entry of 200 seasonal workers into Wando has resumed with the re-opening of the departure procedures by the Philippine authorities, which had been suspended since the end of August. Specifically, 119 workers entered on the 18th and 81 on the 19th.
The procedures for additional personnel in the Philippines are also proceeding normally, which is expected to be of great help in the busy preparations for the Kim Yang-sik harvest.
Representative Park Ji-won said, "In February of this year, 150 seasonal workers from the Philippines were also prevented from departing but eventually entered." He added, "This entry of workers is the result of communication with the Philippine Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) following a request from the military and through the cooperation of the Ministry of Justice and the Korean Embassy in the Philippines."
Meanwhile, a total of 4,315 foreign seasonal workers, the largest number in South Jeolla Province, have been assigned to Haenam, Wando, and Jindo in the second half of this year.
chogy@yna.co.kr