The Seoul Metropolitan government is receiving applications from migrant wives and husbands for a tour guide training program starting today via its website
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To become a tour guide in Korea, one must be able to deliver Korea’s history, culture and tourist attractions to foreigners in their respective languages and facilitate entrance and departure into Korea. It also requires a state-certified license.
The city of Seoul is expecting to ease the short supply of tour guides with language abilities of East Asian countries while at the same time alleviating unemployment and resulting economic difficulties facing interracial families.
The program will run from July through October with 100 migrant wives and husbands who can speak languages from such Asian countries as Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia are eligible to apply. Once the trainees receive the state license, the city will also help in their job search starting in December.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said that there were a total of 220,687 migrant wives and husbands in Korea as of January 2012.