Good news for foreigners who are married to Koreans! The government is planning to make more jobs available for foreign wives. As to the kinds of jobs, we’ll just have to wait and see. However, I hope that there will be no discrimination when it comes to the beneficiaries.
The Korean government has continuously been setting up programs to help foreign wives adjust to their lives in Korea. Many of these programs include learning Korean language, Korean cooking lessons, home study programs and cultural lessons. These were not in place and not as available when I first came here. There are some programs though that are not available for all foreign wives. For example, visiting teachers for Korean language program is only available for those who’ve been to Korea for less than five years. I know some married immigrants who’ve been here for more than a decade but couldn’t even speak conversational Korean, but for some reason could not take the lessons offered at multicultural centers.
Of course, it’s not just the responsibility of the government for the immigrant to learn the country’s language. However, it shouldn’t discriminate between older immigrants and FOBs.
More job opportunities will be offered for foreigners marrying Koreans.
The government plans to actively help foreign wives find jobs to help them integrate into Korean society.
The plan is contained in new policy measures for multiracial families announced Tuesday by Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik. The measures will be implemented over five years from 2013.
Read the full article: More jobs available for foreign wives
I also hope that the Korean government would extend help to foreign men who are married to Korean women. After all, they are expected to support their families as any ordinary Korean men.