Overdue wages for migrant workers averaged 6.63 million won ($4,825), a survey conducted by the state human rights watchdog showed Thursday.
The survey, which was conducted on 379 migrant workers who are currently working in the country or have worked here for over a year, also showed the average number of times wages were overdue was 1.09, according to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.
By amount, 34.4 percent of the respondents said they were due between 1 million won and 3 million won, followed by 5 million won to 10 million won at 28.8 percent, 3 million won to 5 million won at 17 percent and more than 50 million won at 1.2 percent.
Around 32 percent said they received none of their overdue wages even though they asked for them, while 30.9 percent said they received the entire amount due after taking action and 34.8 percent received part of it.
Nearly 80 percent of the respondents said they filed complaints with the labor or oceans ministries or other relevant agencies in order to receive their overdue wages but experienced difficulty due to language barriers and a lack of understanding of local labor laws.
The commission said solutions to the problem of overdue wages include increasing the number of help centers for migrant workers, punishment for employers who delay wage payments and efforts to improve perceptions of migrant workers.
