Korea pursuant to the Immigration Act but provides labor to another party
based on a subordinate relationship and receives wage, etc. in return, such
foreigner can be included in the scope of "worker" prescribed under the Trade
Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act.
40. The government report states that immigrant workers eligible for employment
have the right to form and join trade unions, indicating that those without a
working visa are not guaranteed the same right.
41. In this regard, to guarantee the three basic labor rights such as the right to form
and join trade unions regardless of their employment status, to ensure the
freedom to express themselves regarding the improvement of their status and
elimination of discrimination, and to guarantee the freedom of participating in
protests, the government should review article 17 of Immigration Act for
revision as it states that no alien staying in Korea should engage in any
political activity.
42. The Immigration Act stipulates that no immigrant in Korea should engage in
any political activity and if an immigrant staying in Korea engages in any
political activity, the Ministry of Justice may issue a deportation order. The
term “political activity” refers to not only political rights such as the right to
vote and electoral eligibility, but also freedom to express one’s political point
of view and to participate in rallies, thus there were cases in which immigrant
workers were deported for participating in rallies.
Issue 9. The Right to Leave Any Country including One’s Own and Return to
One’s Own Country
43. In December 2017, three siblings of seven, three, and one year olds who were
unregistered immigrants born in Korea, visited the Immigration Office at the
airport with their grandmother to fly out of Korea. Upon their visit, the
immigration officer notified them that they must pay a fine of KRW 2.2
million in total and will be suspended from departure if they do not comply.
44. A fine is an administrative punishment which cannot be the reason for the
suspension of departure under article 29 of the Immigration Act. In this case,
the fine defaulter is the parents of the immigrant children, not the children
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