Exhibition features Korean immigration to Paraguay

By Kang Hyun-kyung

The Embassy of Paraguay in collaboration with the Korea Foundation (KF) will host an exhibition of photos and paintings of Korean immigrants to the Latin American country at the KF Gallery in Seoul.

Starting from June 25, the “On the Way to the Land With No Evil” exhibition will continue until July 18.

The showcase of the photos and paintings by renowned painter Hernan Miranda comes as this year marks the 50th anniversary of Korean immigration to Paraguay.

Several programs related to Korean immigration will also take place on the sidelines of the exhibition.

On June 26, Miranda will meet Koreans during the open talk at the gallery, which will be followed by a screening of the movie “The Mission” on July 2. On July 1, artist Kim Soon-ok will give a lecture on the history of Korean immigration to Paraguay. Kim returned to Korea years after she immigrated to the Latin American country.

Korean immigration to Paraguay began in 1965 when a group of 95 Koreans aboard the 27,000-ton Dutch ship Boissevain went to the Latin American country.

They are the first wave of Korean immigrants to Paraguay.

Those people were recruited by the health ministry and worked at farms. The second and third waves of immigration came in the 1970s and 80s. Now as many as 300,000 Koreans are living there, according to the KF.