Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jung-sik, fifth from right, speaks during a meeting by the ruling party, the government and construction industry officials, held at the National Assembly in Seoul, Tuesday, to discuss ways to reform regulations at construction sites. Yonhap

By Park Jae-hyuk

The Yoon Suk-yeol administration's continuous efforts to deal with illegal acts by unionized workers led the government and the ruling party to agree on Tuesday to lift all regulations on hiring foreigners at construction sites.

They reached the agreement as unionized construction workers have threatened to sue builders for using undocumented migrant labor.

Some construction union members were even arrested by the police earlier this month for extorting money from builders. They are alleged to have threatened to hold rallies in front of construction sites. They are also said to have interrupted other workers entering construction sites under the pretext of searching for undocumented foreign laborers.

Construction firms are restricted from hiring migrant workers for up to three years, if they use undocumented migrant labor.

Amid an intensifying shortage of laborers at construction sites, small- and medium-sized builders have therefore continuously proposed pardoning employers facing the disciplinary measure for illegally employing undocumented people.

The builders have also asked the government to increase or eliminate existing quotas on foreign construction workers holding E-9 or H-2 visas, as the labor ministry did not include the construction industry among the sectors that will be supplied with a large number of foreign workers.

According to the ministry's announcement earlier this year, additional workers of foreign nationality will be sent to shipyards, factories, farms, public transport operations and small restaurants and stores.

Since unionized construction workers have capitalized on the labor shortage to flex their muscles against builders, however, the government eventually responded to requests from the industry.

Unionized construction workers hold a press conference in Gwangju to urge the government to stop the illegal hiring of construction workers of foreign nationality in this 2019 file photo. Newsis

Rep. Sung Il-jong, chief policymaker of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), told reporters on Tuesday afternoon that the party and the government reached an agreement to push ahead with the complete lifting of restrictions on hiring foreign workers at construction sites.

"It seems that we should increase quotas on foreign construction workers," he said during a meeting by the ruling party, the government and construction industry officials, held at the National Assembly to discuss ways to reform regulations at construction sites.

The lawmaker, however, added that Korean technicians and supervisors should be used continuously for complicated works.

Rep. Lim Lee-ja, the PPP's executive secretary for the Environment & Labor Committee, also called for the deregulatory measures, saying that most small- and medium-sized builders have been unable to use foreign workers, due to the disciplinary measure for illegally employing undocumented people.

Labor Minister Lee Jung-sik acknowledged the difficulties facing builders and promised to come up with practical measures to solve their problems.

Construction firms welcomed the government's response.

"The government's plan to root out threats from construction unions by easing regulations on hiring foreign workers is very encouraging," Construction Association of Korea Vice Chairman Ahn Si-kwon said.

According to a survey by the Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association, the number of workers of Korean nationality at construction sites stood at 1.53 million last year, despite demand for 1.75 million workers. As there are only 65,000 construction workers of foreign nationality holding E-9 or H-2 visas, local builders appear to have hired 150,000 foreign workers illegally last year.