By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter

A Filipino woman and an Indonesian man have become Korean police officers. They are Annabelle Castro, 41, from the Philippines and Ju Jigang, 38 from Indonesia. The two naturalized Koreans graduated last Friday from the National Central Police Academy. Castro and Ju will work in departments dealing with foreigners at police agencies in Gyeonggi and South Gyeongsang respectively.

``I will care for many Filipino women married to Korean men and their children. Also, many Filipinos who are illegally working here are afraid of the police, but I will help them get home safely,’’ Castro told The Korea Times over the phone.

Castro is married to a Korean and first came to Korea 10 years ago, she has three children. She used to teaching English in after-school programs and also worked as an interpreter.

Ju came to Korea in 1995 as an industrial trainee, tied the knot with a Korean woman and now has two daughters and a son. His Korean colleague at his former company became a policeman and whenever his friend had to deal with Indonesians, Ju helped him and became interested in the job. ``I have seen communication problems with many foreigners,’’ Ju said.

``Although I’m ethnic Indonesian, I am a Korean policeman and I will treat Indonesians strictly according to Korean law. Of course I will respect their human rights at the same time,’’ he added.

There are now a total of three naturalized Korean police officers here. Korean police last year employed a naturalized Korean woman from China. She was the first foreign born woman to become a police officer after changing her nationality.

kswho@koreatimes.co.kr