The outgoing British ambassador to Seoul said Tuesday that his embassy is hoping to expand English-language education for North Korean defectors here as their lack of English ability poses a challenge for them in accessing good jobs and higher education in South Korea.
"We recognize that, in any event, it would be difficult for the North Koreans to integrate into the South Korean society because of their lack of English skills," Martin Uden told reporters as he prepares to step down from his post later this month.
Earlier this year, the British Embassy in Seoul started offering English courses to 50 North Korean defectors and arranged three-month internships for 10 of them. Also, the embassy provided a British government scholarship to one defector for post-graduate study in London.
Uden said that young North Koreans who settled in South Korea would have a huge potential for the future of the Korean Peninsula.
"The new settlers need to have good English skills to get a good job and enroll in a university," Uden said, hoping that more people will take an interest in the issue so that the embassy can expand its program, which is corporate sponsored.
More than 22,000 North Koreans have defected to the South to avoid chronic hunger and political oppression since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire. The number of North Korean defectors arriving in South Korea has been on the rise in recent years.
Still, many lag behind their South Korean counterparts in terms of English language skills and other work experience, hindering them from climbing the social ladder here.
Uden has served as ambassador over the past three and a half years after nearly a decade of working here.
The outgoing envoy said he was leaving with pride in three achievements: maintaining very good relations with the South Korean government, the passage of the free trade deal between South Korea and the European Union and his tireless efforts to meet ordinary Koreans.
The free trade agreement went into effect on July 1 this year, bringing together South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, with the 27-member European Union, the world's largest economic bloc.
"For me, Korea is something like a second home," said Uden.
Britain's new ambassador to South Korea, Scott Wightman, will take up his post later this month, embassy officials said. (Yonhap)