KUALA LUMPUR - Behind South Korea’s chronic labour shortage lies a quieter toll borne by migrant workers, many of whom suffer life-altering injuries or death far from their families.

For many, the call for help comes too late, after falls from factory heights or hands pulled into industrial machinery, leaving families overseas to grieve losses that cannot be undone.

Sumesh Barma, a Nepalese national, arrived in Korea in 2019, leaving behind his wife and young son to work on a farm in North Jeolla Province.

With ill parents and mounting medical bills back home, Barma described Korea as a land of opportunity and sent more than half of his wages to Nepal each month.

His sense of achievement peaked on payday, when he filmed himself working and shared the videos with family and friends.

That routine collapsed in 2023 after a workplace accident involving a feed fermentation and mixing machine.

“I was operating a feed fermentation and mixing machine without tools, following instructions from my employer’s daughter, even on the day of the accident.

“Then my gloved hand got pulled in and four fingers were severed,” Barma told Korea JoongAng Daily.

Although one finger was reattached, Barma said he has no feeling in it and has effectively lost the use of his left hand.

He later received a dismissal notice, and while he was paid 41 million won in workers’ compensation, most of the sum went towards medical expenses.

Barma has since extended his visa with legal assistance and is pursuing a civil lawsuit against his employer, saying he cannot return to Nepal due to limited treatment options and poor job prospects.

“Migrant workers under the Employment Permit System realistically have a hard time refusing unfair instructions from employers,” said Kim Dal-sung, head of the Pocheon Migrant Workers Center.

Similar outcomes have affected other migrant workers, including Filipino national Lyndon Delphin.

In 2016, Delphin suffered a cerebral infarction after falling from a height at a steel manufacturing company in the Seoul metropolitan area.

With partial paralysis and limited mobility, he was unable to find work and eventually returned to the Philippines without pursuing legal action.

“He was injured while working in Korea, but we came back without even receiving caregiver support.

“That’s when our family’s misfortune began, after the breadwinner collapsed,” his wife, Abigail, said in a video interview with the portal.

In some cases, injured workers never return home alive.

Diaz Tamang, a Nepalese worker employed at a plastic manufacturing plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, died last year after his arm was caught in an extrusion machine.

His pregnant wife, who received the news in Nepal, reportedly fell into depression.

Official figures show migrant workers face a far higher risk of fatal workplace accidents than Korean nationals.

In 2024 alone, 114 migrant workers died in industrial accidents, with their fatality rate estimated to be 2.3 to 3.6 times higher than that of Korean workers, according to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.

Researchers warn the actual toll may be higher due to underreporting and cases in which injured workers return home before dying.

Workplace injury claims filed by migrant workers have risen steadily, from 8,062 cases in 2020 to more than 10,000 in 2024.

While migrant workers make up about 3 per cent of the workforce, they account for roughly 6 per cent of all industrial accident claims.

Experts say the risks stem not only from dangerous jobs often avoided by Koreans, but also from language barriers.

“In most cases, those who suffered accidents experienced warning signs.

“But explaining that requires fluent Korean, and most people are blocked by the language barrier,” said Lee Hyo-na, secretary general of the nonprofit Hope Ungsang.

Critics have also pointed to the nonprofessional employment (E-9) visa system, which requires only limited Korean-language training before entry.

As of late November 2025, about 344,000 migrant workers were staying in Korea on E-9 visas, many with just 38 hours of pre-entry language education.

“As companies complained about labour shortages, the range of industries allowed to hire expanded, and naturally the hiring bar was lowered,” said Ahn Dae-hwan, head of the Korea Migration Foundation.

Some experts argue employers and the government must shoulder more responsibility for training and safety.

“Wanting a high-quality workforce while refusing to invest in human capital is a contradiction.

“Responsibility should be strengthened for those who profit from foreign workers,” said Cho Hyuk-jin, a research fellow at the Korea Labor Institute.