They were descendants of Koreans who moved to Northeast China, fleeing Japan’s brutal colonial rule in the early 20th century.
In a twist of history, many like them have come to South Korea in recent decades, looking for better-paying jobs in their forebears’ homeland, now one of the world’s richest countries.
The disaster drew new attention to the stark realities faced here by migrant workers, from China and from elsewhere.
South Korea, with its shrinking population, has been rapidly increasing the number of workers it accepts from abroad to toil at the lowest rung of its labor market.
Foreign workers are nearly three times as likely as the average South Korean to die in a work-related accident, according to a recent study.
Persons:
Locations:
China, South Korea, Hwaseong, Seoul, Koreans