By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
A group of foreign nationals have been helping clean up the nation's worst oil spill in Taean.
Members of the ``Married Immigrants Network'' in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province visited Taean, South Chungcheong Province, Sunday, braving freezing weather to join in cleaning the polluted West Sea.
They were accompanied by the members of Seoul Immigration Office, foreign diplomats from the Philippines and Mongolia, as well as John A. Linton, the director of the international health care center at Yonsei University's Severance Hospital and foreign celebrities who appear on the TV show, ``Beauty's Talk.''
``I have been very impressed by the way Koreans have banded together and helped in Taean and I wanted to participated in this movement. As we love Korea, we hope Koreans also love us (married immigrants) and help us to settle down in Korea,'' Partricia Amaramto, 35, told The Korea Times. She brought her 11-year-old elder daughter to help in Taean. Amaramto has been in Korea for 13 years and is the representative for married immigrants in Seoul.
``I also hope our volunteer work can help remove discrimination and biased views of Koreans against us,'' she added.
Matshudome Kyoko, 47, the Japanese representative for immigrants married to Koreans in Anyang also joined in the cleanup with her two daughters. ``As we help Koreans, I hope Koreans also help married immigrants to settle here,'' Kyoko said. Kyoko has lived here since 1988 after marrying her Korean husband.
According to the Korea Immigration Service, there are about 107,000 foreigners married to Koreans and more than 30 percent of them reside in the Seoul area. The foreign spouses in the capital plan to strengthen their networks with other regions and hold volunteer and charity activities to promote themselves as friendly neighbors to Koreans.
``We will support the foreign spouses taking part in more activities, not as visitors but as main actors for Korea,'' immigration official Park Gil-nam said.
There are many unreported foreign nationals who have participated in the cleanup since the spill took place, according to a Taean Country officer.