Migrant workers in Korea face justice hurdles as interpreter shortages persist

Kim Yi-chan of the Global Station Center says many Cambodian workers struggle to grasp basic instructions from labor officials, leading some to abandon complaints altogether. Data released by Rep. Lee Hack-young shows that foreign nationals visiting regional labor offices rose sharply, yet only nine Cambodian-speaking consultants are on staff and a total of 60 multilingual consultants serve seven offices nationwide. Labor activists note that workers must often supply their own interpreters, a burden that varies by language and office; Nepali speakers, for example, have ten consultants, while languages such as Mongolian, Bengali, Kyrgyz and Tetum have just one each.

The Foreign Workforce Counseling Center, with 35 counselors, cannot cover several languages despite advertising support in 18. Officials cite recruitment challenges for rare languages, even after reaching out to embassies. Critics argue that shifting the responsibility for interpretation onto vulnerable workers hampers their ability to seek redress for wage theft or abuse.