Farmers harvest rice in Boseong-gun, South Jeolla Province, Oct. 8, in a photo unrelated to the story. (Yonhap)

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea ruled Tuesday that numerous types of illegal abuse inflicted on a group of seasonal workers from the Philippines last year amount to human trafficking.

It was the first time the commission recognized abuse against seasonal workers of foreign nationality as human trafficking.

Pointing to loopholes in the system as well as insufficient government management and supervision as causes, the commission identified illegal abuse practices including: wage exploitation, withheld wages, the denying workers the freedom to change jobs, passport and bankbook seizures as well as assault.

The decision was in response to complaints filed in January by human rights groups on behalf of workers from a city in the Philippines that had an agreement to send seasonal workers to a county in South Jeolla Province. Neither the county or the city were named in the ruling.

In a number of cases noted by the commission, a broker who worked between the two local governments seized the victims’ passports during their stay in Korea, and arranged for 750,000 ($544) to be automatically transferred from their Korean bank accounts the day after they were paid by their employer each month.

The commission recommended Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the Ministry of Justice and and local governments to improve institutional protection for seasonal workers to prevent the recurrence of human trafficking.

The recommendation included coordinating policymaking and daily system operations, strengthening laws to guarantee foreign seasonal workers' basic rights, eliminating private broker involvement in the program, making the system more transparent and continuous monitoring of the program by experts.

This ruling comes five months after South Korea returned to Tier 1, the highest grade in the 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report issued by the US State Department, in June, which recognizes the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.

South Korea was downgraded to Tier 2 in 2022 for inadequate efforts to prevent human trafficking crimes and protect victims.

The 2024 report recognized Seoul’s efforts to eliminate trafficking, seen in an increase in investigations, prosecutions and convictions of human traffickers; the identification of 55 victims; the start of the prosecution of one official; and increased cooperation with civic groups.

However, the report also assessed that South Korea has not proactively investigated labor trafficking cases, especially in the fishing industry, as well as foreign national workers under the Seasonal Worker Program, on C-8 and E-8 visas, and Employment Permit System, on E-9 visas.