A 32-year-old Pakistani worker spent nine months in detention after a labor office recognized about 7.2 million won in unpaid wages from his 14 months of shipyard work in South Korea. He remained unable to recover the money while held at the Hwaseong Foreigners’ Detention Center.
Authorities granted discretionary temporary release to six detained workers last year and two through August this year. Direct applications for temporary release were approved in only the 30-percent range, according to the report.