Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Seoul awards honorary citizenship to outstanding foreign residents
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, third from left, poses with a new honorary citizen of the city, fourth from left, at City Hall, Friday. Yonhap
By Lee Hae-rin
The Seoul Metropolitan Government selected 15 foreign residents from 13 countries to be granted honorary citizenship in recognition of their significant contributions to the local community, the city government said Friday.
The 15 winners have helped the weak and marginalized, and assisted other foreign nationals to settle in the country, it added.
Among the winners was Susanne Woehrle from Germany, who introduced the German vocational training program known as Ausbildung to Korea in the automotive mechanic field and has been managing the program for seven years. Another winner was Suphaporn Winit from Thailand who has participated in several volunteer activities for marriage migrants, young people with disabilities, children from multicultural backgrounds and her local community.
Also on the list was Laura Priscilla Acosta from Switzerland, who helped refugees' settlement and career development in Seoul while being a board member of Hanokers, a refugee-led social initiative, and also volunteering at the Mapo Tourist Information Center; and Katherine Ann Corteza from the Philippines, director of the Itaewon Global Village Center, who volunteered to guide foreign nationals at the Yongsan Community Health Center during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gupta “Lucky” Abhishek, a Seoul-based TV celebrity from India who received honorary citizenship last year, presided over the award ceremony held at City Hall.
The honored foreign residents are invited to the city government’s key events and take part in administrative decision-making as official members of city committees.
Since 1958, the city government has awarded honorary citizenship to a total of 913 foreign nationals from 100 countries.