Seoul considers expanding foreign helper program to include more nations: mayor

The Seoul city government is considering expanding its newly launched foreign home helper program to include more sending nations and offer more varied services, such as live-in helpers, Mayor Oh Se-hoon said Tuesday. Last month, 100 Philippine workers began offering home chore services in Seoul as part of the inaugural phase of the city's foreign helper program, aimed at reducing household child care and homemaking burdens. "The city needs to consider what is suitable for our conditions by diversifying the program, including adding live-in services like those in Hong Kong or Singapore, or picking Cambodia and other Southeast Asian nations (as sending countries)," Oh said during a parliamentary audit session. "We will announce the results as soon as consultations with the labor ministry are completed," he said. Currently, all foreign helpers are from the Philippines and commute to host homes from dormitories, with their services limited to child care and related home chores. "The program began with child care services, but we may face a care service shortage in the future ... the city will seriously consider the possibility of expanding the program to the broader care labor (industry)," he said. Source: Yonhap News Agency