SEOUL -- South Korea's system for employing low-skilled foreign workers has evolved over the years from an abuse-ridden technical training program to a model of public administration.

Now Seoul is debating where to draw the line between temporary workers and longer-term residents and what further improvements are needed.

A national push

A day after entering South Korea in early March, a Filipina was already polishing her skills in the local language at an educational center for foreign workers in the city of Hwaseong in Gyeonggi Province, outside Seoul. "I have five people in my family, and two siblings," she told her classmates in halting Korean. She and her peers spent three days and two nights at the training center before heading off to their workplaces.

South Korea's Employment Permit System matches unskilled workers from 16 countries of Southeast and Central Asia with employers here. Laos joined the group this year. Participants' stays are closely managed by the government, including during training, which Seoul delegates to such industry groups as a federation representing small and midsize businesses.

The scheme now accounts for 260,000 of South Korea's 960,000 foreign workers. A quota for new workers is set annually, based on how domestic businesses are faring. The Human Resources Development Service of Korea, or HRD Korea, affiliated with the Ministry of Employment and Labor, works with government agencies in partner countries to locate candidates and manage the program. "There's a sense of security, working with the government," a Filipino working in a South Korean factory said.

HRD Korea handles the matching process as well. Companies are shown three candidates for a post and select one. If the chosen candidate approves of the match, a contract is drawn up. Applicants can turn down up to two offers but typically accept "on the first go-round," said an official at the organization's office in southern Seoul.

The support network

HRD Korea also oversees labor conditions once workers have been placed, providing interpretation services if workers and employers have a hard time understanding each other regarding contract terms, for example. While job applicants must pass a Korean-language test, some come into the country barely able to speak the language.

A martial arts class at a support center for foreign workers in the city of Incheon.

Eight government-run support centers around the nation give foreign workers advice on their work and help those returning home find jobs. Cultural classes, such as in taekwondo or Korean, are available free of charge as part of efforts to help foreign workers fit in on the job and in their neighborhoods.

One such center in Incheon was bustling with workers chatting or playing sports with their compatriots in early March. A daily 500 or so people visit on weekends, according to the center. In addition, privately run support centers for foreign workers are found across the country.

South Korea previously brought in foreign workers mainly as technical trainees who in theory would then bring new skills back to their home countries -- a system similar to Japan's technical intern trainee program. But that model was abandoned in favor of simply bringing in unskilled workers as such. Why?

The switch aimed in part to address rampant human rights abuses. Under the technical training model, employers were frequently violent toward workers and withheld wages. Illegal job placements were also rampant. The system was widely condemned inside and outside South Korea as equivalent to modern slavery.

Citizens' groups, a powerful political force in South Korea, protested to great effect. While businesses opposed the straightforward employment system, fearing higher costs, the government of then-President Roh Moo-hyun pushed reform ahead at a rapid clip.

The efforts have paid off. After 13 years under the new system, the share of migrant workers in South Korea illegally has plunged from 80% to just 20%. The scheme has received international acclaim, including a United Nations Public Service Award.

The Incheon support center for foreign workers bustled with visitors on March 5.

Changing with the times

Yet as far as the system has come, much remains to be addressed. "Human rights violations against foreign workers persist," according to head of a privately run support center in Hwaseong. Of the roughly 6,000 companies in the city that take in foreign workers, around 10% have committed such infractions as withholding severance pay or assaulting employees. Many are repeat offenders, according to the center's chief. But "workers are effectively unable to choose the companies they work for and have only limited transfer opportunities," the official said.

Both workers and employers have also said they would like for the program to permit longer stays. The maximum length of a worker's term has been gradually extended over the years, putting the current cap at nine years and eight months if participants re-enter the country halfway through their stay. But qualifying for re-entry requires workers to jump through formidable hoops, including staying at their first workplace for 58 months. Only around 3,000 workers re-enter each year.

Yet if foreign workers' "stays become too long, it will become harder for them to work again in their home countries," argued Lee Kyu-yong, a research fellow at the Korea Labor Institute. "There have been reports showing that the influx of migrant workers has depressed wages for such groups as women and the elderly," he said.

Since 2011, foreign workers meeting certain conditions have been able to change their residency status, including taking steps toward permanent residency. Observers are watching to see whether the government "can effectively control who returns home and who stays," said Koji Sano, a professor on the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Fukushima University in Japan. The South Korean system is "the most useful model for Japan," Sano said.

Further reforms being weighed in South Korea now include a point system for short-term unskilled workers that would reward applicants for academic and career experience as well as Korean-language proficiency. Similar schemes are used in the U.S. and Europe for screening immigration applications. In the future, South Korea may allow high scorers to choose jobs with better working conditions. Information on various companies could also be compiled into a database to give both sides more choice in a match.