By Kim Da-hee



Economic activity by Korean women would increase by 10 percent if they could hire foreigners as housekeepers for about 700,000 won ($616), a month, a study shows.

Under the Foreigner Employment Law, only Koreans and ethnic Koreans from China can work as housekeepers.

Yonsei University researchers surveyed 500 working mothers in December, and the result will be shared at the Korean Political Science Association spring conference on Jeju Island on Friday.

In the survey, 67.8 percent of respondents said they were willing to hire a foreign maid on a monthly wage of 700,000 won, on condition that the maid could communicate in Korean. Nearly 41 percent said they would hire a foreign maid even if she could not speak Korean.

Citing the result, the team said there was a need to amend the law to expand women's economic activities, which would help reinvigorate the sagging economy.

"The low number of economically active females in Korea is strongly linked to the high costs of childcare," a researcher said. "Low-paid foreign housekeepers would help to increase the number of economically active females."