ID :
25788
Tue, 10/21/2008 - 16:54
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/25788
The shortlink copeid
Migrant workers feel pinch as S. Korean currency loses vigor
By Sam Kim
BUCHEON, South Korea, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- Sonny Buccat, a 30-year-old Filipino, is among a large number of foreign workers in South Korea who send off a chunk of their monthly paycheck to support families back home.
But beginning next month, Buccat says his remittances will have to stop.
"The exchange rate is too high," he said. "My parents and my wife feel sad I may
not be able to send them money for a while, but they also understand we have to
wait until things get better."
Buccat, who works at a small aluminum factory in this Seoul suburb, has watched
the plunging local currency eat into the cash he sends home. The won has
fluctuated wildly against the dollar in recent sessions, closing at 1,315 won per
greenback on Monday.
The won has been one of the worst performing currencies in Asia, losing about 25
percent of its value against the dollar this year. The subprime mortgage crisis
in the U.S. and a subsequent credit meltdown have triggered dollar hoarding by
banks and other financial institutions worldwide. Experts say the South Korean
currency has been one of the hardest-hit in relative value.
Currency woes are also having an affect on South Korean families. Huge numbers
of so-called "goose fathers," or men who stay behind to support families who go
abroad for education, are finding that their paychecks do not go as far, forcing
their wives and children to return home.
"It's the other way around for migrant workers," said Choi Jae-kyu, an official
at the government-sponsored Korea Migrants' Center in Seoul. "It can be very
troubling for these workers if the dollar gets expensive because that's the
currency they use for transaction."
According to the South Korean government, there are about 440,000 migrant workers
living in the country -- many from the Philippines, China, Indonesia and Vietnam
-- while as many as 220,000 are believed to be staying beyond their legal
duration.
Working in areas generally shunned by South Koreans -- jobs described as "3D," or
"dirty, difficult and dangerous" -- they form the bedrock of the workforce here,
and send up to three quarters of their income to their families back home.
It is difficult to estimate the full amount of money migrant workers send home
regularly, according to the Korea Exchange Bank, but local media recently
estimated as high as US$1 billion per month, quoting unidentified market sources.
On top of the exchange rate concern, migrant workers in Bucheon, which is home to
about 20,000 foreign workers and a gritty cluster of manufacturers, are facing
another dispiriting problem: a lack of chances to make extra money.
"Due to the economic slowdown, we have not been able to give much over-time work
to our workers," said Kim Ki-ho, a factory manager who oversees nine migrant
workers. "Migrant workers need to work as much as they can because they have a
limited stay here."
South Korea, which relies heavily on exports for growth, posted a trade deficit
of US$2.06 billion last month, raising the cumulative shortfalls this year to
US$14.67 billion.
The weakening currency has been cited as a factor that has raised import costs
for oil and other materials, prompting consumers and manufacturers to refrain
from spending or investing.
Nguyen Tien Trung, a 28-year-old Vietnamese working under Kim, said he has
already stopped sending money home to his parents.
"It's such a loss if I send money now," he said in fluent Korean. "I'm also not
making as much as I used to, and the costs of living continue to grow here. I'm
barely holding on."
Trung is lucky in that his father continues to work in Vietnam, making up for the
shortfall, but people like Joel Ticse, a 30-year-old from the Philippines, have
no choice but to continue to send money because their families depend on it.
"I still have to send money if my child and my parents say they need it," said
Ticse, who works as an assistant at a molding company. "Now I'm even considering
going back to the Philippines because the economic situation is not as good as it
used to be here."
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
BUCHEON, South Korea, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- Sonny Buccat, a 30-year-old Filipino, is among a large number of foreign workers in South Korea who send off a chunk of their monthly paycheck to support families back home.
But beginning next month, Buccat says his remittances will have to stop.
"The exchange rate is too high," he said. "My parents and my wife feel sad I may
not be able to send them money for a while, but they also understand we have to
wait until things get better."
Buccat, who works at a small aluminum factory in this Seoul suburb, has watched
the plunging local currency eat into the cash he sends home. The won has
fluctuated wildly against the dollar in recent sessions, closing at 1,315 won per
greenback on Monday.
The won has been one of the worst performing currencies in Asia, losing about 25
percent of its value against the dollar this year. The subprime mortgage crisis
in the U.S. and a subsequent credit meltdown have triggered dollar hoarding by
banks and other financial institutions worldwide. Experts say the South Korean
currency has been one of the hardest-hit in relative value.
Currency woes are also having an affect on South Korean families. Huge numbers
of so-called "goose fathers," or men who stay behind to support families who go
abroad for education, are finding that their paychecks do not go as far, forcing
their wives and children to return home.
"It's the other way around for migrant workers," said Choi Jae-kyu, an official
at the government-sponsored Korea Migrants' Center in Seoul. "It can be very
troubling for these workers if the dollar gets expensive because that's the
currency they use for transaction."
According to the South Korean government, there are about 440,000 migrant workers
living in the country -- many from the Philippines, China, Indonesia and Vietnam
-- while as many as 220,000 are believed to be staying beyond their legal
duration.
Working in areas generally shunned by South Koreans -- jobs described as "3D," or
"dirty, difficult and dangerous" -- they form the bedrock of the workforce here,
and send up to three quarters of their income to their families back home.
It is difficult to estimate the full amount of money migrant workers send home
regularly, according to the Korea Exchange Bank, but local media recently
estimated as high as US$1 billion per month, quoting unidentified market sources.
On top of the exchange rate concern, migrant workers in Bucheon, which is home to
about 20,000 foreign workers and a gritty cluster of manufacturers, are facing
another dispiriting problem: a lack of chances to make extra money.
"Due to the economic slowdown, we have not been able to give much over-time work
to our workers," said Kim Ki-ho, a factory manager who oversees nine migrant
workers. "Migrant workers need to work as much as they can because they have a
limited stay here."
South Korea, which relies heavily on exports for growth, posted a trade deficit
of US$2.06 billion last month, raising the cumulative shortfalls this year to
US$14.67 billion.
The weakening currency has been cited as a factor that has raised import costs
for oil and other materials, prompting consumers and manufacturers to refrain
from spending or investing.
Nguyen Tien Trung, a 28-year-old Vietnamese working under Kim, said he has
already stopped sending money home to his parents.
"It's such a loss if I send money now," he said in fluent Korean. "I'm also not
making as much as I used to, and the costs of living continue to grow here. I'm
barely holding on."
Trung is lucky in that his father continues to work in Vietnam, making up for the
shortfall, but people like Joel Ticse, a 30-year-old from the Philippines, have
no choice but to continue to send money because their families depend on it.
"I still have to send money if my child and my parents say they need it," said
Ticse, who works as an assistant at a molding company. "Now I'm even considering
going back to the Philippines because the economic situation is not as good as it
used to be here."
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
