Photo: Filipina domestic workers arrive at Seoul for a pilot program. Credit: Seoul City Hall.
On August 6, 100 domestic workers from the Philippines arrived at Incheon International Airport to participate in a pilot program from the Seoul city government. Under the original initiative, proposed by the conservative Seoul mayor O Se-hun 오세훈, the Filipina “caregivers” would have provided discounted childcare for Seoul citizens in exchange for housing in city-provided dormitories and payment at less than the minimum wage.
The Ministry of Justice 법무부, however, rejected the Seoul city government’s request for an exception to minimum wage requirements, requiring the domestic workers to be paid the minimum wage of KRW 2.4m (USD 1.8k) per month. The pilot program restricts the scope of the domestic workers’ responsibilities to childcare and pregnancy care, preventing them from being used as all-purpose servants - but it remains to be seen whether the guidelines will be respected.
Mayor O has portrayed the initiative as offering affordable domestic help for Seoul's middle class. But more than a third of the 157 families participating in the pilot program are located in the the richest districts of Seoul (Gangnam 강남, Seocho 서초 and Songpa 송파), prompting criticism that the city government is effectively subsidizing the rich.