Three directors of care hospitals involved in illegal employment have been forwarded without detention. They received 900,000 to 1.1 million KRW monthly as brokerage fees. Two Korean brokers, who disguised dozens of Malaysians as nursing college interns to illegally employ them in domestic care hospitals, were caught by immigration authorities. The brokers took approximately 1 million KRW from the Malaysians’ monthly wages as a commission for arranging illegal employment. The Seoul Immigration Service revealed that 49 Malaysians were disguised as nursing college interns and illegally employed as caregivers in a Ulsan care hospital. Korean brokers A (55, detained) and B (28, not detained) were forwarded to the prosecutor’s office.
The investigation showed that brokers A and B recruited 49 Malaysians with the help of local recruitment agents in Malaysia, disguising them as local nursing college interns. They entered Korea with visa exemption (B-1) under the pretense of participating in a cultural experience and care hospital tour. Over about ten months, from August last year to May this year, they worked in care hospitals in Ulsan and Busan providing care to elderly patients in 12-hour shifts. It has been confirmed that they gained a total of over 63 million KRW from the monthly salaries of Malaysian caregivers, which ranged from 900,000 to 1.1 million KRW each.
The brokers made double contracts, receiving 1.8 to 2 million KRW monthly per caregiver from the hospitals but paid only 900,000 KRW to the foreign caregivers, keeping over half the wages as a commission. To conceal these facts from the hospitals and immigration authorities, they included confidential clauses in the contract threatening penalties for disclosing the contract details.
The Seoul Immigration Service began investigating after receiving information about multiple Malaysians working illegally as caregivers in a Ulsan care hospital. Consequently, all 49 Malaysians who entered the country through the Korean brokers were deported. A representative from the Seoul Immigration Service stated that this is the first case of large-scale organized illegal employment of foreign caregivers in care hospitals and emphasized the importance of supporting the stable establishment of the foreign caregiver system and encouraging lawful employment.