[ 경향신문 ] Migrant workers on South Korean deep - sea fishing vessels worked an average of seventeen hours a day and received a monthly wage of less than 600 , 000 won . What seems like modern day slavery existed on ships in the distant seas away from government supervision . The Human Rights Network for Migrant Fishermen ( Network ) held a meeting with the press at the Girl Scouts of Korea headquarters in Jongno - gu , Seoul on June 8 and released the status of human rights violations of foreign fishermen on South Korean fishing vessels . During the meeting , they introduced the results of an interview conducted by Advocates for Public Interest Law ( APIL ) and the Environmental Justice Foundation . They interviewed 54 migrant workers who had worked on South Korean deep - sea fishing vessels from 2016 to 2019 . As of 2018 , 3 , 850 ( 73 . 3 %) of the 5 , 247 fishermen on deep - sea fishing vessels were migrant workers . The fishermen who responded to the interview worked an average 16 . 9 hours a day . Most of the respondents ( 96 %) worked more than twelve hours a day , and over half ( 57 %) answered that they worked more than eighteen hours a day . Among the workers , 65 . 5 % answered that they had less than six hours to rest including time for sleep . Despite the long hours of intense labor , 41 % of the migrant fishermen earned less than US $ 500 ( approximately 600 , 000 won ) a month . Of the respondents , 72 % said they personally paid the cost for entering South Korea from their country of origin , and many had this cost deducted from their monthly wages , so the money that ended up in their pockets was even less . As of 2018 , the monthly wage of a Korean fisherman was over 5 . 1 million won . The migrant fishermen were discriminated against further , for they were not subject to a “ profit - sharing system , ” in which the fishermen shared the sales profits from their catch . It was common for migrant workers to be cursed at and to be hit or kicked at by the Korean captain , chief mate , navigator , and boatswain . If they got sick , they did not receive proper treatment and were not allowed to rest , but had to continue working . Almost all the fishermen had paid staffing firms an expensive security to prevent their leaving their positions and they could not quit because the captain or the firm had seized their passports . The Network called for an end to discrimination concerning the minimum wage of migrant fishermen , as well as a guarantee of time off work , and an end to the practice of confiscating passports . The United Nations Committee on Economic , Social and Cultural Rights ( UN - CESCR ) had advised the South Korean government to investigate the exploitation of migrant fishermen and to punish the perpetrators in 2017 . ▶ 장도리 | 그림 마당 보 기 ▶ 경향신문 바로 가 기 ▶ 경향신문 구독 신청 하 기 © 경향신문 ( www . khan . co . kr ) , 무단 전재 및 재 배포 금지