During a 2003 "self-reporting" grace period for foreigners illegally employed here, migrant workers queue in Munrae-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, to report to the authorities. Korea Times file



By Ko Dong-hwan



Starting Monday, more than 335,000 illegal migrants will have six months to report to the authorities to avoid penalties, including a possible maximum 10-year entry ban, if they are caught.



The Ministry of Justice is offering the special grace period as a "carrot" rather than a "stick" to deal with the growing number of foreign residents with expired visas.



According to a statement from the ministry's Investigation and Enforcement Division, the figure has risen, from 208,971 in 2016 to 251,041 in 2017 and 335,455 as of August this year.



The influx is at odds with the number of illegal migrants deported, around 30,000 annually. The authorities have raided construction sites, bars and other workplaces frequented by foreign workers, but caught only a fraction of the people without visas.



Illegal migrants who report themselves during the grace period will avoid being banned from re-entering the country. At the same time, people caught by the authorities during this period will be banned from re-entering Korea for up to 10 years.



The grace period is "in consideration of the difficulty of the present reality where raiding, policing and deporting have proven ineffective," according to the immigration division, Monday.



The measure comes after Justice Minister Park Sang-ki met Thailand's Labor Minister Adul Sangsingkeo in Seoul, Friday, when they discussed the rising number of illegal Thai workers in Korea. Park asked his counterpart to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to share information about brokers who send illegal workers to Korea.



The Thai Labor Ministry said that as of May this year, 174,443 Thai nationals were living legally in Korea, plus 55,637 illegal workers.



Sangsingkeo visited Thai laborers working in Korea and discussed with the government how to find solutions to the problem of illegal workers in Korea, the Thai ministry said. The minister also discussed expanding the Thai labor market in Korea.





With above leaflet, the Justice Ministry encouraged foreign residents in Korea with illegal employment to self-report themselves and take voluntary departures so they wouldn't get penalized with a future entry ban. Courtesy of the Ministry of Justice