At an event celebrating International Migrants Day on December 19, 2021, participants in front of Bosingak, Seoul remember Sokkheng, a Cambodian worker who was found dead in a vinyl greenhouse dormitory. Kim Chang-gil

In December 2020, Sokkheng, a Cambodian worker was found dead in her dormitory, a vinyl greenhouse. The Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service recognized her death as an industrial accident. Sokkheng’s death was a spark that turned the poor living conditions of migrant workers into a social issue.

According to the coverage by the Kyunghyang Shinmun on May 2, the Seoul Occupational Disease Review Commission of the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service recently concluded the review of Sokkheng’s death and recognized it as one caused by an occupational disease. In December 2021, Sokkheng’s family demanded compensation for the surviving family and the funeral claiming that Sokkheng died due to occupational reasons. According to the decision by the Commission, the Uijeongbu branch of the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service will soon give an allowance for the bereaved family and compensation for funeral costs after the family in Cambodia opens an overseas account.

For a death to be recognized as an industrial accident, a causal relationship must exist between the death of the worker and her occupation. Reportedly, the review commission ruled that although Sokkheng needed aggressive treatment for her liver cirrhosis, she could not receive proper treatment because of her work. When migrant workers are sick, they have trouble using medical facilities in Korea because of the language barrier and high costs. The review commission acknowledged the fact that such circumstances worsened Sokkheng’s condition. Sokkheng worked in South Korea through the employment permit system, which allows the South Korean government to bring foreign workers to Korea according to the demand for labor.

Earlier, an autopsy revealed the cause of Sokkheng’s death as ruptured esophageal varices due to her liver cirrhosis.

After Sokkheng’s death, civic groups raised an issue with the poor living conditions of migrant workers. The government later announced measures to improve living conditions, but it has yet to track down the structural cause. Attorney Choi Jung-kyu of a group seeking to resolve the occupational deaths in migrant worker dormitories said, “When a migrant worker dies unexpectedly, people suspect an occupational cause, such as an excessive workload, but there is no system for workers to seek recognition as an industrial accident. So the latest recognition of Sokkheng’s death as an industrial accident is significant,” and added, “I hope that this case can be the beginning.”