Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Naturalized voters turn vocal
By Jung Min-ho
Representatives of naturalized Korean voters said Monday they had confirmed 10 demands that they will convey to presidential candidates Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in on the eve of the election.
These include setting up a special organization that deals with various immigration issues to prevent administrative confusion both for the service providers and receivers and to spur the system’s development.
``As society’s demographics are changing rapidly with a growing number of naturalized citizens, we believe that about 500,000 people now share their interests with multiracial families,” an official of the Migrant Voters Alliance said in a press release Monday.
``We initiated our action so that our voices can be reflected in their policies before and after the election.”
The written request includes making multiculturalism a mandatory subject in obtaining education-related certificates and adopting a quota system in hiring employees for organizations that deal with multi-ethnic issues. In addition, they will ask the candidates to take multiracial families into account when making new policies.
``Many naturalized Koreans here have language issues with their limited Korean ability so we feel it is important to provide language services at places such as emergency rooms,” the official said.
``Given the fact that interracial marriage accounts for about 40 percent of the total in rural areas, we also will call on the government to ramp up efforts to crack down on illegal marriage brokers to minimize problems.”
Other requests focus on protecting the rights of foreign workers and their families. It includes allowing their families to stay with them here with a valid visa and extending subsidies to all foreign residents in Korea. The current system only covers naturalized Korean citizens.
“We would like to suggest the Immigrant Workers’ Children Protection Act that guarantees the laborers’ children to have basic education and medical services here,” the official said.
The alliance expects to receive answers from the candidates before the vote. They initially planned a symbolic ceremony to deliver their “wish placard” to the candidates but this was cancelled due to Park and Moon’s hectic schedules.
“Nevertheless, we see it as meaningful that many of the multiracial population here contributed,” the official said. “To ensure our demands are met after the election, we will continue to participate in politics.”