By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
Immigrant wives from Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are being reunited with family members in Korea thanks to the government.
One of the women is Shakhnoza, a 23-year-old immigrant wife from Uzbekistan who met her mother and older sister for the first time in two years. The reunion was made possible after she applied for the government's program at the request of her family.
"I am so glad to see my mother and sister after a long time. I can't believe it. I am thrilled and excited," Shakhnoza said. She added that she wants to cook Korean food for them.
Shakhnoza's family are here as part of a program run by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security (MOPAS), and the Korea New Community Movement Center.
The 70 family members ― 46 from Mongolia, 20 from Uzbekistan and four Kazakhstan ― arrived in Korea Wednesday to tour the country and reunite with their loved ones for seven days.
They visited the 63 Building in Yeouido and Changdeok Palace, Wednesday. The rest of their schedule includes visits to Cheonggye Stream, the National Museum of Korea, Cheong Wa Dae and the Korean Folk Village.
From Saturday to Monday, they will stay in their daughters' houses.
The ministry started inviting families of married immigrants in 2007 and this is the fourth reunion program. Reunions took place for some 80 family members from Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand in the first half of this year.
The program is designed to promote closer relationships between the countries, said a ministry official. "Inviting families can provide energy to immigrant wives, who struggle to settle down here. This program is primarily for reunions but also for helping Korean society recognize multicultural families are part of us," he said.
The next reunions are planned for 2010, but the official said the exact schedule has not been fixed yet.