Seoul city under fire for alleged discrimination against foreign brides in transport subsidy

Seoul Metropolitan Government's poster for a transport expenses support fund for pregnant women / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

By Lee Hae-rin

The Seoul Metropolitan Government came under fire for its allegedly discriminative transportation subsidy program. An initiative for pregnant women designed to ultimately help in efforts to boost the birthrate.

The city government unveiled the subsidy program that has gone into effect from this month. Under the scheme, all pregnant women having lived in the capital for six months or more are eligible for the 700,000 won ($535) voucher for public transportation or fueling personal vehicles.

An estimated 43,000 women are entitled to the benefit.

The birthrate policy, however, has been accused of discrimination as many foreign women who are married to Korean men, are not eligible for the program.

Foreigners with a Korean spouse can acquire Korean nationality if they have lived in the country as a married person for more than two years, or if they have been married for more than three years and lived here for over a year. In most cases, such families have children before they meet these conditions. So, the chances are that many of them are not eligible for the subsidy program.

According to Statistics Korea's latest report on the country's multicultural families, only 19.9 percent of the country's 16,421 births to such families in 2020 were from naturalized Korean mothers. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority ― 67 percent ― are from foreign nationals without residence registration.

The report also shows that 2,609 children were born in multicultural families in Seoul in 2020. The number is 14.5 percent lower compared to the year before and takes up 15.9 percent of the country's total figure.

Regarding the discrimination allegation, the city government said that under the current law, foreign spouses who don't meet the requirement are not eligible for the program, noting that revision of the law is necessary for them to benefit from the subsidy program as well.