Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon speaks at a National Assembly audit of Seoul City Hall, Tuesday. Yonhap

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said Tuesday that the city government plans to expand its foreign caregiver program to include workers from not only the Philippines but also Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries.

During a National Assembly audit of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, he also noted that the city will conduct a comprehensive review to explore the possibility of introducing live-in caregivers and expanding the nanny program to include care services for the elderly and sick individuals.

The city government, in collaboration with the Ministry of Employment and Labor, has been implementing a pilot program to introduce foreign caregivers in the capital. This initiative aims to assist parents with child care as part of efforts to address the nation's low birthrate.

A total of 100 workers from the Philippines started work as nannies in early September for six months.

Oh said the existing caregiver program requires greater diversity and modifications to better align with Korea's needs.

He initially outlined plans to recruit caregivers from a variety of countries.

"We need to consider countries like Cambodia and other Southeast Asian nations, introducing a system where workers from different countries compete with each other to determine what best suits our situation," Oh said.

His idea referred to cases in countries such as the United Arab Emirates and other Middle Eastern nations, where minimum wages are set differently based on nationality.

Wages have been a contentious issue since the pilot program's introduction. While Oh supports reducing wages for foreign caregivers to make child care services more accessible to those in need, the labor ministry contends that such a system would violate International Labor Organization (ILO) standards.

Caregivers from the Philippines arrive at Incheon International Airport as part of pilot project aimed at supplying foreign workers to domestic households, Aug. 6. Joint Press Corps

To address wage concerns, Oh introduced another plan to consider allowing foreign caregivers to live in the households they serve.

Currently, the Filipino caregivers in the pilot program reside in designated accommodations and commute to and from the households they work for.

In Hong Kong and Singapore, live-in caregivers are common, enabling workers to save on accommodation and transportation costs.

Oh noted that families here may prefer caregivers who can handle both child care and domestic chores. Currently, the pilot program restricts the caregivers' responsibilities to childcare and related housekeeping tasks.

"We need caregivers who can manage both childcare and household tasks if they reside with the family," he said, adding that the city is looking into options to expand the program.

In response to calls for the active recruitment of foreign workers as nursing aides and caregivers for the elderly, especially considering Korea's aging population, Oh said while the city government initially concentrated on childcare, it will carefully explore options for expanding into various forms of caregiving.

The city government plans to announce further details after consulting with the labor ministry.