My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 487

To legally work in Korea, you typically need the appropriate visa. Because Chinese workers make up a significant portion of the labor force on construction sites, obtaining a visa is generally not too difficult.

“But at large construction sites, they sometimes check it.”

“Well, it’s usually not a major issue, and in most cases, it’s just a formality.”

“To be precise, they check it when you first start working and then don’t pay much attention.”

“Ah, but you can’t get that visa.”

“That’s right.”

No matter how easy it might be to skim money in construction, even if they’re building haphazardly, causing a building collapse is a different story altogether.

“And to get such a visa, you need to provide some kind of documentation.”

To work on a construction site, you’re required to complete basic construction safety and health education; it’s impossible to work without it.

The problem is that large construction sites enforce this requirement quite strictly.

“Then it’s not there?”

“It’s likely not. But when the construction of a large factory begins, smaller construction sites tend to pop up around it.”

When a factory is built, people need housing nearby. Currently, Bunghwa-dong isn’t exactly the most desirable place to live, and it’s almost entirely occupied.

“So, when a large factory like that is built, new villas or apartments tend to be constructed, targeting the workers employed there.”

“Ah-ha!”

However, the factory being built in this area is a bit too small to justify apartment complexes. Of course, thousands of employees work at the factory, but not all of them are wealthy enough to buy new apartments.

“So, usually, a lot of villas are built.”

And in the construction industry, villas are classified as C-grade construction sites.

“They don’t really investigate visas or anything.”

But due to the nature of construction work, the pay is ultimately similar.

“Then, from a criminal’s point of view, a C-grade construction site is much better than an A-grade construction site, right?”

“That’s right.”

That way, they can move around without revealing their identity.

“And it’s easy to disappear from such places if necessary.”

“Why?”

“There are more places than you think where large construction sites calculate pay on a monthly basis.”

There’s a strong tendency to use designated people due to safety and other concerns. Large labor sites typically hire people, cutting them off in units of a week if it’s a short project, or a month if it’s longer.

“They don’t prefer to bring in people from the daily labor market at those sites.”

If there’s a disruption, the resulting losses are enormous. So, they mostly secure a certain number of essential personnel and run the construction, only bringing in a few people from the daily labor market when there’s a shortage.

“But on the other hand, small sites get workers from the daily labor market almost every day.”

In other words, the best place for someone to hide and earn money is a construction site, specifically a small one.

“And there aren’t that many of those places either.”

At the same time, it’s never easy to construct buildings simultaneously to aim for occupancy. Furthermore, even though it’s a bit far, there are other alternative cities, so rushing to build doesn’t solve anything.

Moreover, factories take longer to build compared to other structures. It’s not just a factory that simply builds walls, but a building specifically designed for its task, so things like piping have to be carefully planned and designed.

“So, there are probably only about 50 buildings around here?”

And identifying those places isn’t difficult. You need permission from the city hall to do construction.

“But is it easy to identify the people working inside?”

“Not a chance. Chinese people have surprisingly strong, unnecessary loyalty.”

To be exact, it’s not so much that they comfort each other, but that they unite with a sense of animosity towards outsiders, that is, South Koreans.

Even if you go to an American slum, they steal from each other, shoot each other, and sell drugs, but when the police enter the slum for security, they work together to drive them out.

“That’s how they create their own zone.”

And realistically, you can’t do that at large construction sites. If you do that, the company will fire them all.

“But when they swarm in, they can’t attack it either.”

The reason is simple: it’s public authority. Simple patrols can be protested or driven away because it’s just a patrol without any suspicion. Protesting or feeling uncomfortable about it doesn’t constitute a crime.

“But what if there was a shooting there and someone died, and they tried to block the investigation? What do you think the police would do?”

“Ah-ha! The police would see that person as a suspect?”

“That’s right.”

In that case, the person involved would be beyond uncomfortable and would be arrested and have to go through a long trial. And they can’t get compensation from the US government either.

If they were wrongly accused, the US government would give a considerable amount of compensation, but in this case, they did something wrong, not the US police.

From the beginning, they aggressively interfered with the police investigation. Even if the gun murder is found not guilty, obstruction of official duties will inevitably be found guilty, and they will only lose out if they go to prison because of it.

“So, if we give a clear excuse here, they can’t say anything over there.”

Park Do-joon smiled.

“And I told you, there are tons of illegal immigrants here.”

And Park Do-joon is a police officer. It’s never illegal for a police officer to investigate illegal immigrants.

“One of them is bound to run. Hehehe.”

Korea has a unique visa that other countries don’t have. It’s called the Korean Compatriot Visa, which was created for Korean compatriots born overseas. It’s often referred to as the F4 visa. Although it’s officially called an overseas Korean compatriot visa, most of the beneficiaries are Joseonjok [Korean-Chinese] from China, so some call it the Joseonjok visa.

In the case of this F4 visa, they have almost the same rights as citizens, except for the right to vote and run for office, but they cannot be employed in certain industries. And one of them is simple labor, that is, construction work.

‘But the best place for these people to work is a construction site.’

Women can easily find jobs in restaurants or other facilities, but it’s not easy for men to find such jobs.

So, it’s not difficult to find a guy with an F4 visa at these small construction sites.

“Police.”

Park Do-joon glanced at the people working and then asked the site manager.

“P, police, why…?”

Seeing his face turn pale, Park Do-joon was convinced.

‘I knew it.’

In fact, they have no choice but to use foreigners with F4 visas in places like this. If not, they’ll just go to the factory. Moreover, since there’s a large factory construction site right next door, labor with visas that allow them to do construction work will naturally be drawn to that side, and as a result, these small villa construction sites have no choice but to bring in people with F4 visas as day laborers.

“Please gather all the people working here.”

Of course, the person managing the construction site is bound to be flustered when the police show up.

‘It’s give and take for now.’

Of course, if they crack down here, they can catch all the guys here, but in reality, catching them doesn’t help much.

Besides, Park Do-joon is aiming for something else.

“Lee Yeon-ah, take pictures of the people working here.”

“Yes, Detective.”

Jung Yi-yeon quickly took out her phone and started taking pictures, and the manager swallowed hard as he watched.

“No, wait. Detective….”

Park Do-joon introduced himself as a detective and showed his ID. And since Jung Yi-yeon called him “Detective,” he’ll definitely think that two police officers came for a crackdown.

“Can’t you just let it slide this once?”

“Gather all the people working here. Otherwise, I’ll arrest you immediately for violating the Immigration Control Act.”

“Yes?”

“Tell them to come. Or I’ll have to call people from the Immigration Control Office.”

“Yes? Now?”

“Don’t want to? Shall I call them?”

At that, the manager hurriedly started calling the people who were working. In fact, the deportation process after such a crackdown is not under the jurisdiction of the police, but under the Immigration Control Office. In other words, the police can crack down, but they will eventually have to work with them.

But Park Do-joon hasn’t said he’ll call the Immigration Control Office staff yet. That means there’s still room for negotiation. Of course, he could let them all run away, but then he’d take the blame and receive all the punishment. So, if there’s room for negotiation, he had no choice but to bring them.

“Everyone, gather around!”

When the manager called, all the workers gathered, and Park Do-joon showed them his ID again.

“Police.”

He could see some of them subtly looking for an escape route. Of course, it’s not difficult to escape from a construction site. But soon, they froze at the next words.

“We already know your identities here. So, don’t even think about running away.”

At those words, everyone swallowed and froze. And Park Do-joon quietly threw them a bait.

“If you cooperate, we won’t pursue you any further.”

“Cooperate?”

“Yes, of course, if you refuse, I’ll call the Immigration Control Office people right now.”

“……”

In reality, there are more cases than you think where the police know about illegal workers but turn a blind eye. It’s not that they can’t catch them if they try to catch them one by one, but if they do, social chaos is inevitable.

It’s not just a matter of enforcing the law, but if they keep cracking down in these places, complaints will come in, and the problem is that the power of construction companies in Korean society is so strong that most of them are retaliatory.

‘And I can’t deny reality.’

In fact, if there are no Chinese workers, except for some large companies, things can’t function, so it’s meaningless to try to drive them out.

Of course, some say that they are taking jobs away from young workers, and that’s actually true, but construction sites are one of the jobs that young people don’t want, so they can’t just arrest them unconditionally.

‘But I can threaten them.’

Due to the nature of doing illegal work, Park Do-joon is bound to be a threat to them.

“Let me see your passport and visa.”

“Ah, I, I didn’t bring my passport….”

“You don’t have a passport or a visa? Oh, my, these people!”

Park Do-joon bared his teeth as he looked at them. Then he took out handcuffs.

“You’ll have to come with me.”

“Oh, no! Detective, just a moment! Y, you can’t do this.”

The manager hurriedly ran over and stopped Park Do-joon.