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Investigation and Remedies for Discrimination based on Country of Birth [2003] KRNHRC 10 (1 January 2003)

`Discrimination based on Country of Birth' refers acts of discrimination on the
grounds that the victim of discrimination came from another country or was
raised in another country than Korea. This refers to cases where those such as
foreign laborers and foreign professors face discrimination for reasons of their
being foreigners. In particular, there are some cases of illegal sojourns by
foreign laborers who enter Korea as industrial trainees and continue to stay
even after the expiration of their training. It has been found that Korean
employers have exploited the fact that they are illegally immigrants by paying
much lower wages than to Korean workers, failing to maintain adequate
working conditions, and unfairly restricting access to educational and vocational
training facilities. All of these acts constitute discrimination against foreigners.
The complainants are workers with foreign nationalities. They suffered
industrial accidents while working in Korea, and they applied to the respondent
for admission to the Vocational Rehabilitation Training Center and for financial
aid to help cover the expenses for vocational training. The complainants were
refused vocational rehabilitation on the grounds that they were foreign workers.
They filed two complaints arguing that it was in violation of the right of
equality based on country of birth.

The Commission investigated the two complaints collectively. The results of
the investigation found that under the provisions of Article 5 of the `Labor
Standards Act,' foreign laborers are subject to receiving industrial accident
insurance compensation as they are laborers regardless of legal status. Thus,
they can be included in the category of laborers eligible for vocational
rehabilitation training, which is provided under the `Industrial Accident
Compensation Insurance Act.' Despite the fact that foreign laborers are not
included in the category of laborers to be excluded as candidates as provided
in the `Guidelines for Projects to Support Vocational Training of Those
Handicapped due to Industrial Accidents,' in the first place, financial aid
applications for vocational training by foreign laborers who suffered industrial
accidents is presently impossible. This is against the principle of equal
opportunity and does not serve the objective of vocational rehabilitation
training.

The Commission decided that exclusion of the complainants from applying
for vocational rehabilitation training on the grounds that they were foreigners
was a discriminatory act in violation of right of equality based on country of
birth. The Commission recommended that the respondent, the Korea Labor
Welfare Corporation, revise the system for the selection of candidates for
vocational rehabilitation training so that foreign laborers including the
complainants will not be ineligible for vocational rehabilitation training. The
respondent accepted the recommendation.