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<div style="left: -99999px;"><h1>Editorial: Japan can learn from S. Korea over foreign worker policy</h1>
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<p class="gmail-post">November 26, 2018 (Mainichi Japan)</p>
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<p class="gmail-japanese"><a href="https://mainichi.jp/articles/20181126/ddm/005/070/027000c">Japanese version</a></p></div>
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A worldwide competition is underway in search of workers. South Korea is especially active in this race in East Asia.
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<div><ul class="gmail-list-typeD gmail-typeD-line"><li>
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<a href="https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20181124/p2a/00m/0na/008000c">
<span class="gmail-midashi">【Related】Editorial: True foreign resident support agency needed for smooth integration in Japan</span>
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<a href="https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20181123/p2a/00m/0na/013000c">
<span class="gmail-midashi">【Related】Shrinking Japan: Local support seen as key to smooth integration of foreign residents</span>
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The country was originally negative about hiring foreigners. But as
more South Koreans were avoiding jobs like those at small- and
medium-sized companies, Seoul was forced to take action due to the
decline in the birth rate and the greying of society and ventured into
new waters.
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Learning from the Japanese precedent, South Korea introduced an
industrial trainee system in 1993. But under the name of training, some
of those trainees were forced to work under tough conditions and fled
their workplaces as a result. This made illegal stays a focus of social
concern. South Korea has already experienced the situation that Japan
now faces with the Technical Intern Training Program.
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The South Korean government was quick in realizing the problem. In
2004, Seoul introduced a new system called a work permit program in
which the government was responsible for the acceptance of foreign
workers.
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Under the program, South Korea signs a bilateral agreement with a
country that is sending their nationals as workers. This is to exclude
job placement agencies that do not play by the book while securing a
stable supply of workers. Seoul now has its government offices in
countries where foreign workers originate to make necessary arrangements
for their employment. Those countries can feel secure that their
nationals are treated properly in South Korea. As many as 16 nations,
including Vietnam, have signed such agreements.
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This South Korean precedent, in which the host government is
responsible for recruiting and dispatching foreign workers, is full of
lessons for Japan.
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Under the current Japanese plan, the government's involvement stops
at the point where Tokyo decides on how many foreign workers to accept
in which industries. Those responsible for accepting them are companies
hiring them and registration support organizations to be set up by
industries where those companies belong. This arrangement leaves open
the possibility that exploitation would remain in the foreign job
placement industry.
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In South Korea, the government is responsible for the education of
the Korean language for foreigners. Seoul also organizes social
integration policies by organizing courses on tradition and the culture
of the East Asian country. In Germany, too, where many foreign workers
live, Berlin guarantees that they receive at least 600 hours of language
education.
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However, the South Korean situation is far from perfect. Some
workers are overstaying their visas, and foreign employees cannot choose
companies they wish to work for in principle. Nevertheless, Seoul's
stance is completely different from Tokyo's in that Japan attempts to
confine the acceptance of foreign workers to the immigration control
policy.
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Japan's edge in the global competition for workers in terms of
salaries is eroding. Foreign workers will no longer pick our country if
we stick with our self-serving conditions.
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<br>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div></div>