By Kim Se-jeong
Staff Reporter
It appeared to be an ordinary cultural camp where young participants got to experience different cultures and learn to understand and accept differences.
What was special about the camp, held over the weekend in downtown Seoul, was that the participants comprised children either of mixed Indonesian-Korean father parentage or Indonesian parents who immigrated to Korea to work.
There were nearly 80 children, making Indonesian and Korean dishes, trying on traditional attires of both cultures and learning songs and dances.
Organized by the Korea-Indonesia Friendship Association and the Korea Bang Jung-whan Foundation, the multicultural family children camp set the ball in motion being the first of its kind to host such an event for Korean-Indonesian children.
Oh Myeong-rok, secretary-general of the foundation who has taken the lead in efforts to reduce cultural intolerance among the younger generation emphasized the significance of education on cultural differences: Teaching them to accept cultural differences as differences rather than as a tool for judgment on culture.
Yun Hai-jung, former Korean ambassador to Indonesia as well as chairman of the association, acknowledged that there is a lack of resources and facilities for educating children on cultural tolerance, and hoped the camp would contribute to filling the gap.
``By 2012, children from multicultural families will account for 10 percent of the first grade students. Efforts like this are imperative to help their healthy integration into society,'' Yun said.
Indonesian nationals are among the growing numbers of ethnic Asians coming into Korea. Most are workers and women who marry Koreans. The number of ethnic Indonesians ranks the fifth largest, followed by Chinese, Vietnamese, Mongolian and the Filipinos.
Looming multicultural families in Korea have accompanied unexpected dark sides. As Philippine Ambassador Luis Cruz once pointed out, there's discrimination against children with different appearance in the classroom. Yet, little efforts in education and integration have been made.
In some cases, he said, some Philippine-Korean families were even forced to move back to the Philippines.
The foundation also organized a similar camp on Children's Day in May, in hopes to be able to expand the program to children of other ethnic groups.