The Virtual Farm-Based Training Programme in Seven Foreign Languages Enhances Foreign Workers’ Access to Livestock Biosecurity Training

Sejong, 9 January 2026 — Starting in January 2026, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA), in cooperation with the Livestock Health Control Association (LHCA), will officially launch a virtual farm-based training programme on livestock biosecurity for foreign workers and beginning livestock farmers. 

The training programme is an online platform designed to provide instruction on essential biosecurity practices that must be observed at livestock farms. Following two pilot phases conducted from February to December 2025, the programme will transition to full-scale operation this year.

Under the Act on the Prevention of Contagious Animal Diseases, livestock farm owners are required to provide training on prevention of contagious animal diseases to foreign workers employed on their farms. However, limited availability of multilingual content and non-face-to-face training systems has posed challenges in delivering such education to foreign workers. In response, the MAFRA has developed this online training programme to supplement conventional in-person training.

During the pilot operation involving approximately 7,000 foreign workers employed in livestock farms nationwide, most participants completed the training within one to two hours. Feedback from the participants was largely positive, with many noting that the programme’s interactive design and high-quality multilingual translations significantly improved their understanding of livestock biosecurity guidelines and practices.

The programme is particularly beneficial for foreign workers with limited proficiency in the Korean language, as well as for livestock farm owners who have difficulty in attending group training sessions due to their busy work schedules. Through games and video-based learning in a virtual farm environment, users can easily learn essential livestock biosecurity practices, such as vehicle disinfection, changing protective footwear, and the procedures for reporting suspected cases of infectious disease in animals to the animal biosecurity authorities.

The training programme is available in seven foreign languages— English, Chinese, Nepali, Thai, Khmer, Vietnamese, and Burmese—as well as in the Korean language to enhance foreign livestock workers’ accessibility to learning. The platform also supports training course management and allows leaners to receive a certificate of course completion if they have completed the course.

The training programme can be accessed anytime and anywhere via https://lms.lhca.or.kr, with no need to download and install any software onto a mobile phone or computer. 

The key components of the programme include the following: (a) quarantine requirements for entry into the Republic of Korea, (b) biosecurity practices to prevent and control contagious animal diseases for different types of livestock (cattle, pigs, and poultry), (c) procedures for reporting suspected symptoms of contagious animal diseases to the animal biosecurity authorities, and (d) methods for disinfecting vehicles and people entering and leaving livestock farms.