More multicultural families face "loneliness" in S. Korea
- 5 years ago
For the third part of our May family month series,... we turn to multicultural families who say that loneliness is one of the biggest difficulties they face living in Korea.
The government has been making efforts to resolve this, and other problems.
Our Kan Hyeong-woo reports.
Despite the increase in multicultural families who've been in South Korea for more than ten years,... more are feeling lonely.
According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family's research earlier this month, about 24 percent of respondents picked 'loneliness' as one of the difficulties they face living in South Korea - an increase of some five percentage points from three years ago.
"Because they moved to Korea from another country, some shrink to a degree. Plus, Koreans don't have the highest level of acceptance and it leads to different actions in front of the immigrants than in front of Koreans."
Experts say the longer multicultural families live in Korea the less the language barrier affects them,… but to tackle loneliness,… the public and private sector should work together to give them chances to spend more time with Koreans to provide a better social infrastructure.
"With the number of multicultural families increasing and becoming a bigger part of our society,... the government has come up with a range of policies to help them feel at home."
Meet Nidia Aminta Diaz Ortega.
She moved from Honduras ten years ago, and has been working at a multicultural family support center in Seoul since March.
The government has not only been expanding job opportunities, but also setting up support centers to make sure multicultural families can integrate into Korean society.
"Korea is so beautiful, especially its culture, which is a lot different from other far away countries. So I think anyone can really enjoy experiencing the Korean culture."
For any foreigners living in Korea or thinking about moving to Korea, more information on how to seek help or what kind of support is available can be found on the 'Danuri' website in thirteen different languages.
Kan Hyeong-woo Arirang News.
The government has been making efforts to resolve this, and other problems.
Our Kan Hyeong-woo reports.
Despite the increase in multicultural families who've been in South Korea for more than ten years,... more are feeling lonely.
According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family's research earlier this month, about 24 percent of respondents picked 'loneliness' as one of the difficulties they face living in South Korea - an increase of some five percentage points from three years ago.
"Because they moved to Korea from another country, some shrink to a degree. Plus, Koreans don't have the highest level of acceptance and it leads to different actions in front of the immigrants than in front of Koreans."
Experts say the longer multicultural families live in Korea the less the language barrier affects them,… but to tackle loneliness,… the public and private sector should work together to give them chances to spend more time with Koreans to provide a better social infrastructure.
"With the number of multicultural families increasing and becoming a bigger part of our society,... the government has come up with a range of policies to help them feel at home."
Meet Nidia Aminta Diaz Ortega.
She moved from Honduras ten years ago, and has been working at a multicultural family support center in Seoul since March.
The government has not only been expanding job opportunities, but also setting up support centers to make sure multicultural families can integrate into Korean society.
"Korea is so beautiful, especially its culture, which is a lot different from other far away countries. So I think anyone can really enjoy experiencing the Korean culture."
For any foreigners living in Korea or thinking about moving to Korea, more information on how to seek help or what kind of support is available can be found on the 'Danuri' website in thirteen different languages.
Kan Hyeong-woo Arirang News.