The government is hoping that a new work permit system would make it more convenient and fair for both Korean employers and the foreign workers, but thousands of migrant workers and smaller domestic firms are bearing the brunt of the initiative.

About 100,000 migrant workers in Korea, facing forced deportation under the nationwide crackdown launched on November 17, have gone into hiding.

The latest government move is part of a wider plan to clear the way for implementing a new work-permit system for hiring foreign workers, starting next August.

Many foreign workers welcome the new system, but oppose the part of the plan that would send home migrant workers who have stayed in Korea for more than four years as of the end of March this year.

“I came here seven years ago, but I still don't have money. When I worked during the Asian Financial Crisis, not only was it hard to get a job, but also many times I wasn't paid. I'm jobless again. I want to go home, but I don't have the money to go back,” one worker said.

Protesters here say the crackdown is only hurts small and medium-sized businesses, who need cheap foreign workers to compete for costs.

"Migrant workers are needed at small and medium-sized companies,” one manager said. “Our company already suffers from manpower shortages, but the crackdown made it more difficult for our business after our skilled foreign workers left."

Already, the effects of the crackdown are evident. Factories are slowing down their production. Yet the government says it's looking at the big picture: Korea's overall welfare.

"Work permit systems with limits of three or four years of stay are used in Taiwan and Singapore, as well as in France, Germany and Switzerland. This is to prevent migrant workers from being residents. It also costs more in terms of social welfare to provide for long-term migrants than teaching novices new skills,” a government official said.

Government officials say there should be a supplementary measure to compromise the needs of both employers and migrant workers.

In the meantime, while foreign workers and civic activists in Korea are urging that the government withdraw its decision to expel illegal migrant workers, some 50 task forces continue to search for them.

Arirang TV