The labor ministry says it would be difficult for a Seoul city pilot program for foreign domestic helpers to continue as a full-scale program.

The head of the ministry’s foreign workforce division, Han Eun-sook, announced the stance Tuesday during a meeting attended by Filipina domestic workers and officials from the labor ministry and the Seoul Metropolitan Government. 

The program saw 100 women from the Philippines employed in households in the capital, and the city government had proposed making an exception to the minimum wage laws as a way to reduce the cost burden for child care services for South Korean families.

But Han said that would violate the Labor Standards Act and the nation’s commitments to the International Labor Organization. 

The foreign workers who attended Tuesday’s meeting expressed satisfaction with their work life in the capital.