The government has expanded next year's quota of seasonal foreign workers for the agricultural, fishery and forestry industries to a record 109,100, up 14.1 percent from last year's 96,000, in a bid to ease labor shortages. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, together with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said Wednesday that the workers will be deployed in 142 cities and counties nationwide. Of the total, around 87,000 will be assigned to 27,200 agricultural farms, while 6,700 will work at 1,600 fishery farms across the country. The authorities will also hire an additional 5,400 workers for state-run public services. These daily workers will be dispatched to the agricultural, fishery and forestry sectors by national cooperative federations such as NongHyup and Suhyup. An additional 10,000 workers will be hired to support government pilot projects and emergency needs, according to the authorities. The government added that it will hire additional workers in June if demand increases. South Jeolla Province will receive the largest number of fo