Philippine Ambassador to Korea Maria Theresa B. Dizon-De Vega speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the Philippine Embassy in Seoul, Jan. 8. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Equal labor standards and Korea's minimum wage should be the bare minimum for Philippine caregivers who will begin working in Seoul later this year, Philippine Ambassador to Korea Maria Theresa B. Dizon-De Vega said, amid ongoing debates over whether they should receive lower wages than other workers in Korea.

The ambassador made the comments in a recent exclusive written interview with The Korea Times as Korea plans to bring in 100 workers from the Philippines at the end of July for a pilot program to assess the feasibility of importing foreign caregivers into Korea.

"Both the Philippines and Korea have ratified international treaties that uphold equal remuneration and non-discrimination," Dizon-De Vega said.

"Under the existing memorandum of understanding on the Employment Permit System, workers are accorded equal treatment under Korea's labor standards. Korea's minimum wage law specifically provides the equal application of minimum wage, regardless of nationality, among others."

The minimum wage will be applied to the 100 Philippine caregivers for the six-month pilot program that will be limited to Seoul.

The government is considering extending the pilot program into a full-scale project after analyzing the results. However, suggestions and recommendations to pay foreign caregivers wages below the legal hourly minimum of 9,860 won ($7.2) continue to emerge as part of measures to address the country's exceptionally low birthrate. Nevertheless, labor groups criticize this idea for undermining the principle of the minimum wage system and exploiting workers.

During a seminar co-hosted by the Bank of Korea (BOK) and the Korea Development Institute on March 5, the central bank highlighted the necessity of recruiting foreign caregivers and exempting them from Korea's minimum wage regulations. This initiative aims to address labor shortages in the caregiving industry due to the low birthrate and alleviate the financial strain on working parents.

Regarding this, Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jung-sik told reporters on March 27, "We should respect the suggestion as it is an important point of this society," adding that the Minimum Wage Commission will make an "acceptable decision."

The organization is set to convene its first meeting of the year on May 21 to review the minimum wage for 2025, including the contentious issue of potentially implementing differentiated minimum wages across various industries. If approved, this could allow paying foreign caregivers less than the legal minimum wage.

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In this context, the ambassador emphasized the importance of recognizing the economic value of care work.

"Caregivers and other workers in households contribute to society equally or as much as any other worker with skills. They are enablers not only for early child care education but also for optimizing workforce participation," she said.

"Access to child care allows parents to re-enter the workforce, thereby increasing parental earning and women labor force participation, which ultimately redounds to a positive growth in the economy."

As to possible conflicts stemming from cultural differences between Korea and the Philippines, the ambassador said the pilot project includes an intensive pre-departure and post-arrival education program for caregivers, as well as employment orientation for user-households focusing on culture, language and skills "to effectively reduce, if not totally eliminate, misunderstanding and conflicts."

"Nonetheless, we do not expect that it will be easy. Cultural education and adaptation should be a continuing process," she said.

"Worker and employer education can help achieve a certain level of readiness from both sides, but close monitoring and strong support from the implementing agencies and the community in general will be required."

According to the labor ministry, the 100 Philippine caregivers, who will be given non-professional employment visas (E-9), are expected to arrive roughly at the end of July.

After entering Korea, they will go through vocational training and cultural education, which will be supervised by the Human Resources Development Service of Korea, for four weeks before actually beginning to work at homes, which means they should be ready to start work in August at the earliest.

They will be supplied and managed by two private companies accredited by the government to provide domestic helpers.