(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on July 28)

Lost dreams

Among the five dead in the collapse of a steel structure at the light rail
construction site in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province were two Vietnamese workers.
While we deplore the lack of safety precautions that caused the tragedy, we are
particularly distressed by the sad stories of the two foreign workers who died
having almost accomplished their "Korean dream."
Le Huy Tung, 37, and Nguyen Truong Toan, 37, who went to elementary and high
schools together in Vietnam, came to Korea in March 2007 to earn and save enough
money to live a comfortable life with their families. They planned to return home
in March next year at the end of their three-year sojourn as "industrial
trainees."
From their monthly earnings of about 1.2 million won, Tung and Toan sent home
800,000 won each, but for the first year their entire remittance was used to pay
back the huge fees they owed to their employment agency in Vietnam. With savings
from the second year, Tung hoped to build a new house where he would live with his
parents, wife and children, according to his sister who lives here and is married to
a Korean. Toan most wanted to send his son and daughter to good schools, his niece,
who also resides in Korea, told reporters.
vTwo other Vietnamese workers were included in the eight people injured on Saturday.
Half a million foreign laborers work in this country and the extremely unfortunate
die or suffer serious injuries while at work. The industrial accident rate involving
foreign workers here is far higher than the national average, primarily because
migrant workers are engaged in more dangerous jobs, not to mention ones that are
dirtier and more difficult. Their insufficient access to safety information could
make them prone to accidents.
vA fire at a cold storage warehouse in Icheon, southeast of Seoul, in January 2008
left 40 employees dead, 12 of them from China. Foreign workers are generally
unaccustomed to the surroundings of their workplaces and are less prepared for
accidents because of inadequate training under language barriers. Labor authorities
are urged to strengthen their oversight on safety measures at work sites. They also
need to make extra efforts to provide proper safety education for foreign workers,
whose numbers continue to grow at public works projects like the Uijeongbu railway.
It was reported that the dead and injured Vietnamese workers were hired by a
subcontractor, but as legally recognized industrial trainees, they must be
covered by the industrial accident insurance. The problem is the large number of
illegal migrant workers who cannot be insured for industrial disasters, or for
medical care. Purely humanitarian considerations should be made to help
unfortunate foreign workers regardless of their legal status.
Despite the economic downturn, forests of cranes are seen at "new town"
construction sites around Seoul and other large cities. Under the precariously
looking top-heavy equipment, numerous Korean and foreign workers are sweating in
the grueling heat, without knowing what could happen to them in the next minute
or hour. Earlier this month, the collapse of a 50 meter tower crane killed its
operator.
This country needs better safety measures everywhere, as it strives to earn an
esteemed place in the international community - and so as not to destroy the
dreams of young migrant workers.
(END)