Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jung-sik, second from left, speaks during his visit to the Jeonbuk Foreign Worker Support Center in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, May 26. Courtesy of Ministry of Employment and Labor

The new support center for foreign workers in North Jeolla Province utilizes all available resources including financial institutes and lawyers to help the workers in the region.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Jeonbuk Foreign Workers Support Center officially opened on May 3. Previously, the region lacked a support facility for foreign workers.

The support center is one of the nine facilities that have been set up under the ministry's project, which aims to assist foreign laborers in various regions. Under this program, the ministry grants up to 200 million won ($145,000) to local governments, who have established such centers, to cover 50 percent of their operating costs.

The eight others are in Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Changwon, Gimhae, Yangsan and South Chungcheong Province.

The Jeonbuk center is working together with local financial institutes and lawyers specializing in labor issues to offer a variety of counseling services.

The center also offers Korean language education as well as daily necessities such as first aid.

The ministry is planning to link the center to a multi-lingual counseling service, which is offered by local labor offices, and to vocational training programs offered by the Human Resources Development Service of Korea.

"As an increasing number of foreign workers are expected to arrive in Korea this year to work in various industries, the ministry and local governments should join forces," Labor Ministry Lee Jung-sik said during his visit to the center, May 26.

"The central government will actively support the Jeonbuk center, so it can become the foundation stone to support migrant workers in the region."

During a meeting with the minister on that day, Kuda Baduge Chamara Chandimal Jayantha, a worker from Sri Lanka, shared his experience from 2017 when he first entered Korea under the Employment Permit System, saying he faced many difficulties in the early stages of his stay as he was not fluent in Korean at the time.

He expressed hope that the establishment of the new support center will be well publicized to many other foreign workers so they can receive help.

Migrant workers clean up trash during their participation in the Global Volunteer program arranged by the Yangsan Support Center For Foreign Workers in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, May 26. Courtesy of Ministry of Employment and Labor

Meanwhile, the Yangsan Support Center for Foreign Workers has implemented the Global Volunteer program, where migrant workers participate in monthly volunteer activities such as waste sorting or cleaning in the region.

"The program was created to help the workers be more close to local residents as there still is a gap between the workers and the residents, although the region has seen an increasing number of foreign workers," said Yoo Kyeong-hye, who heads the center.