CINA

본문

Yesterday's Korea Herald reported the following: With some 500 Yemeni nationals seeking asylum on Jeju Island, many in South Korea say the country is facing its first “refugee crisis.” Indeed, the influx of the refugees from Yemen has triggered a fierce backlash among Koreans against immigration rules of Jeju Island, where, unlike the rest of South Korea, most foreign passport-holders can stay for a month without a visa. Many of those who oppose the visa-waiver program say Yemenis will only “create problems” in Korea, especially against local women because “they are Muslims.” As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 430,000 Koreans have signed an online petition(*) asking the presidential office to deport Yemeni asylum seekers and revise current immigration laws to scrap Jeju’s current visa waiver program. A protest march is set for Saturday to press the government to proceed with the deportation of the existing refugees in the country...

Hundreds of people are expected to gather in central Seoul on June 30 in protest against the Jeju Provincial Government's refugee-friendly policy. The move comes after 380,000 people signed a petition against the visa-waiver program, which allows foreigners to stay on Jeju Island for a month. "Politicians are reluctant to respond to the clear voice of the majority of people here and the media also supports refugees. It's time to go out into the street and make our voice heard," a rally organizer said on a blog post. Many of the 15,000 people who left comments there said they would join the protest...(Korea Times, 6.24)

Is there any public resistance against the increasing racist movement in S. Korea? Not really! For example: Only about 340 people are 'interested' and some 37 want to join(?) a counter-protest(난민 반대 반대 집회), slated for the same time, just few meters away from the planned anti-refugee rally...

* As of today about 528,411 (possibly stupid)Koreans have signed the online petition!!