Coronavirus leaves Japan and South Korea short of Chinese workers

Nikkei Asian Review ^ | 2-14-2020 | KIM JAEWON and AKANE OKUTSU

[dynachrome]

Choi, 62, said he was fired a week ago from a hospital in Pyeongtaek, 65 km south of Seoul, where he had worked as a caregiver for a year. Choi is from Jilin Province in northeastern China, where many people of Korean descent live.

"I was forced to leave my job just because I am Chinese," said Choi, adding that he has been in South Korea for more than a decade. "I have no idea what to do now."

Ahn, meanwhile, said he has no hope of getting a cleaning job at a sauna or a golf course because people are avoiding such activities due to fear of the coronavirus, which had infected 28 people in the country as of Wednesday.

"Many stores and companies are closed due to the virus. I hope it goes away as soon as possible."

Korean-speaking Chinese workers are much sought after to fill jobs in sectors such as construction, restaurants, child care and manufacturing, as they are cheaper than Korean workers but still speak the language.

According to the Justice Ministry, the number of Chinese residents in the country reached 1.07 million in 2018, accounting for 45.2% of total foreign residents, followed by Thailand with 8.4% and Vietnam with 8.3%.

[dynachrome]

I had no idea that S. korea relied so heavily on Chinese labor. Japan also:

"In Japan, the problem is more of a logistical one, with many current or prospective workers unable to come to the country from China.

The problem is particularly acute for sectors such as agriculture and construction, which rely on Chinese "technical interns" to fill serious labor shortages.

The government-backed technical trainee program is often seen as a back door for foreign unskilled workers to work in manual labor in Japan. The interns typically stay in the country for three years, and are crucial for rural areas, whose own young populations are increasingly moving to big cities.

According to the Organization for Technical Intern Training, there were about 90,000 Chinese approved interns in 2018, accounting to 23% of the total."

[trebb]

Maybe they’d like to replace them with some Latin Americans....two problems solved ...

[dynachrome]

Sounds like a plan.

[oldasrocks]

Good Idea. Load up the boats with illegal Mexicans and ship them over.

[Does so]

How good is the illegal drug trade in Japan?

[sauropod]

Will definitely read

[Zhang Fei]

[I had no idea that S. korea relied so heavily on Chinese labor.]

---

They’re basically Koreans with a different passport. They come from a Korean region conquered and annexed by the Chinese empire over a thousand years ago. The Korean language is still extant among that population. Due to the popularity of Korean showbiz productions in China, the Korean language may be seeing a revival even among ethnic Koreans that might have lost their facility in the language.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goguryeo%E2%80%93Tang_War#/media/File:Tang-Korean_wars.png

[DannyTN]

I’m sure the Mexicans can increase the drug trade in Japan.

But can we wait until Japan gets a handle on Coronavirus before we send workers from this hemisphere?

Shift manufacturing from Japan to Mexico instead.

[GOPJ]

Korean-speaking Chinese workers are much sought after to fill jobs in sectors such as construction, restaurants, child care and manufacturing, as they are cheaper than Korean workers but still speak the language. <;I>

Once again, cheap labor isn't always cheap..

[null and void]

Bring Out Your Dead

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

If a quarantine saves just one child's life, it's worth it.

[grey_whiskers]

+1

[Bayard]

Japan has a huge manpower problem because they have had a very low birth rate for years.

Same problem in S Korea, I suspect.