Lee's migrant worker remarks fall short of embracing Korea's growing diversity
President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday that migrant workers don’t “contribute much to the national economy” because they send their earnings home. When criticism followed his remarks at a Cabinet meeting, he focused on a word missing from a newspaper headline — “much.” But restoring that word does little to address the larger question of whether the president sees foreign workers as members of…
On Tuesday, President Lee Jae Myung stated that migrant workers do not "contribute much to the national economy" as they send their earnings abroad. Upon receiving criticism over his remarks during a Cabinet meeting, he emphasized a word that was missing from a newspaper headline - "much." However, adding that word does not fully resolve the broader issue of whether the president perceives foreign workers as integral parts of Korea's growingly diverse society or primarily assesses their value based on where their income is spent.
While discussing the need to attract Korean workers to agriculture, Lee instructed officials to consider implementing wage subsidies. He asserted, "For national security reasons, we must sustain agriculture, forestry, livestock farming and fisheries." He then continued, "Bringing in foreign workers doesn't contribute much to the national economy because they send all their earnings home."
Following The Hankyoreh's report on migrant rights groups' criticism, Lee demanded a correction and apology for the omission of "much" in the newspaper's headline. The publication subsequently included the word in the headline. The president elaborated further on the topic.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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