By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
The number of asylum seekers waging a court battle to get refugee status has increased 10 fold over the past year, a Seoul court said Wednesday.
The Seoul Administrative Court, the only one handling refugee issues in Korea, said a total of 99 asylum seekers have filed legal suits so far this year.
The court is the last resort for those whose application for refugee status has been denied.
The Korea Immigration Service (KIS) has expedited the screening of the claims. Last December, the number of pending cases reached a record-high 1,450, according to the office. In May, KIS increased manpower to deal with the issue.
The government plans to halve the time needed to complete the screening of an application to six months by 2010. In addition, those whose cases are pending for more than one year will be allowed to find jobs.
KIS Commissioner Seok Dong-hyeon said in a recent interview with The Korea Times that KIS is paying "greater attention to the rights of asylum seekers."
In June, a group of lawmakers submitted a bill that would upgrade the present Refugee Law to the National Assembly.
The bill is designed to ban any asylum seekers from being forcibly repatriated to their states of origin for any reason, and enable people arriving at an airport or seaport to claim asylum and get into the official system.
At the same time, it seeks to set a maximum period of time for the authorities to completely review each asylum case, and establish a fully independent and impartial body to deal with complaints filed by unsuccessful applicants.
Since the Korean government joined the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1992, more than 2,400 foreigners have sought refugee status but only 145 were recognized.
Asylum seekers have come to Korea from at least 40 countries - the largest group is from Nepal, followed by China, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Nigeria.