The Republic of Korea Increases the Quota for Foreign Seasonal Workers for the Second Half of 2025 by 22,731  

Sejong, 3 July 2025 — On 24 June 2025, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA), and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) held a meeting of the Seasonal Worker Allocation Consultative Committee and decided to additionally increase the quota of foreign seasonal workers being granted permission to enter the Republic of Korea by 22,731 persons in the second half of 2025.

With a particular focus on meeting the additional labour needs of farming and fishing villages that go beyond the quota set in the first half of this year, the Seasonal Worker Allocation Consultative Committee assigned a total workforce increase of 22,731 persons to 100 municipalities across the country.

The additional increase brings the 2025 total quota for foreign seasonal workers allowed to enter the border to 95,700 persons (72,698 in the first half of the year, 22,731 in the second half, and 271 earmarked for a flexible reserve). The figure is up by 41% from the previous year.

In 2024, the total quota for foreign seasonal workers being allowed to enter the border was 67,778 persons (49,286 in the first half, and 18,492 in the second half).

Of the 2025 total quota of 95,700 persons, 86,633 persons are assigned to farming (68,996 in the first half, and 17,637 in the second half) and 8,796 persons are assigned to fishery (3,702 in the first half, and 5,094 in the second half).

Meanwhile, the MAFRA will allow local governments to run the Public Seasonal Worker Programme as a local government-funded project, starting from the second half of this year, on condition that they receive approval from the MAFRA. The MOF will implement its first Public Seasonal Worker Programme in Haenam-gun (the county of Haenam) to address labour shortages in laver and oyster farming.

The Public Seasonal Worker Programme is a programme funded by the central government and local governments in which agricultural cooperatives or fishery cooperatives directly hire foreign seasonal workers and such foreign seasonal workers help farmers or fishers with their farming or fishery. The Public Seasonal Worker Programme is different from the Seasonal Worker Programme (SWP), under which farmers are allowed to directly and legally hire foreign workers and such foreign workers are not allowed to work in other places other than the place of work run by the farmers directly employing them.

In addition, the government of the Republic of Korea decided to step up language assistance for seasonal workers by improving the existing quota system. With the improvement, the quota of foreign communication assistants being allowed to enter the border can be increased, based on the needs of local governments.

The government of the Republic of Korea anticipates that the additionally increased quota of foreign seasonal workers for the second half of the year will help alleviate labour shortages in farming and fishing communities.