Park Jong-kil, president of the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service (K-COMWEL), speaks during an interview at the agency's office in Seoul, April 23. Courtesy of K-COMWEL
On the quiet morning of March 20 at Incheon International Airport, the head of a government agency responsible for administering industrial accident insurance stood before a memorial adorned with flowers and a photo of Nguyen Van Tuan, a 23-year-old Vietnamese worker who died 10 days earlier in a conveyor belt accident at a gravel factory in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province.
As president of the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service (K-COMWEL), Park Jong-kil bowed deeply, offered flowers and placed his hand on the shoulder of Tuan’s friend who was there to escort his remains home. In halting words bridged by interpreters, Park delivered a letter expressing gratitude for Tuan’s contributions to Korea and offering sympathy.
“The language was different, but the grief was the same,” he recalled in an interview at the agency’s Seoul office on April 23, ahead of Industrial Accident Workers’ Memorial Week (April 28-May 4).
That airport farewell marked the debut of the country’s first pilot scheme expanding funeral support for deceased foreign workers, a benefit the agency is now working to institutionalize through reforms.
Park Jong-kil, president of the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service (K-COMWEL), pays his respects at a memorial altar for Nguyen Van Tuan at Incheon International Airport, March 20. Courtesy of K-COMWEL
Park’s commitment to provide foreign workers with such support stems from a disturbing reality he discovered: Families of migrant workers killed in industrial accidents often abandon their loved ones’ remains here because they cannot afford repatriation costs. The program transformed what would have been a lonely departure into a moment of national recognition, with K-COMWEL preparing memorial spaces with photo displays and quiet rooms for mourning.
Korea’s industrial accident insurance, introduced in 1964 when the country had virtually no foreign workers, currently does not cover repatriation costs or memorial services. K-COMWEL is pushing to expand funeral benefits to include air travel support for families, accommodation costs and cremation and remains transportation expenses.
“Migrant workers are precious members who sustain our industrial sites. They deserve the right to work safely and receive fair compensation,” he said. “I think the level of protection we provide migrant workers demonstrates the strength of our society’s safety net.”
According to Ministry of Employment and Labor data, 605 workers died in industrial accidents last year. Foreign workers, who comprise roughly 3.5 percent of the workforce, accounted for over 10 percent of annual workplace fatalities — a disproportionate death rate that highlights severe safety vulnerabilities.
Source: Korea Times News
