Labor Ministry holds migrant worker respect campaign in Asan

The Ministry of Employment and Labor held a campaign in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, on Aug. 5, urging workplaces to address migrant workers by name rather than impersonal terms such as "hey" or "you."

Company representatives and migrant workers from South Chungcheong Province and Daejeon attended. Organizers distributed hard hats bearing individual names as a reminder that migrant workers should be treated as valued colleagues.

The campaign follows an April agreement between the ministry and four labor-rights foundations. With domestic migrant workers now exceeding 1.1 million, the initiative seeks to change day-to-day workplace attitudes alongside institutional protections.

Labor and employer groups in South Chungcheong Province issued a joint declaration pledging to respect migrant workers' human rights and cooperate to ensure safe work and fair labor conditions.

Kim Young-hoon, minister of Employment and Labor, said, "The small practice of calling migrant workers by name is the starting point for creating better working environments and safer workplaces."

The ministry said it would prepare an integrated support roadmap linking training, employment support, working environments and industrial safety. "We will work closely with the labor rights foundations while preparing the foreign workforce integrated support roadmap without disruption, and will complete an integrated protection and support system for foreign workers without blind spots," Kim added.