By Oh Young-jin
Staff Reporter
An Ethiopian refugee was granted Korean citizenship Friday, becoming the first refugee to gain naturalization since Korea joined a U.N. convention on refugees in 1992, the Justice Ministry said.
He received a certificate for Korean nationality during an afternoon ceremony at the Korean Immigration Bureau.
Besides this case, five refugees have applied for Korean citizenship, one flunking a written test and four yet to complete the process.
The identity of the 38-year-old Ethiopian was withheld for his safety. He had fled his home country due to his anti-government activities and arrived in Korea in 2001.
He sought political asylum the following year and was granted refugee status in 2005.
He applied for Korean citizenship in March 2009 and passed the naturalization test.
"Now, I am happy as I can enjoy freedom and peace as a citizen of a democratic country," he was quoted by Yonhap News as saying in fluent Korean. "I hope I can do something that can help improve relations between Ethiopia and Korea."
Korea signed onto the U.N. Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees in 1992. Since then, 2,413 foreigners have applied for refugee status and 145 were granted asylum. The first refugee was accepted in 2001.