Korea's Problem With Foreign Brides

The priest in charge of the labor work for the diocese of Seoul had a disturbing article in the Catholic Times describing the plight of the foreign women married to Korean men. The number of women who have immigrated to Korea for marriage in 2008 where 11% of the total. It is no longer strange to see mothers with different facial complexions mixing Korean into their talk. There are now, as of 2009, 103,484 children born from these unions in Korea.

We usually hear about the problems of these women through the mass media. Many express much sympathy for these women but a statement by a group of priests familiar with the problem said: "the way we see the problem has improved ...but still our understanding has to change."

These women are faced with a great deal of difficulty right from the beginning. Many try to throw off their poverty by international marriages: it is relatively easy and inexpensive to get into the country. Many Korean men go through marriage brokers to find a wife; they have to use a sizable amount of money and the health and the age of the men is not a concern of the brokers. Consequently, the meaning of marriage, the duties and obligations are not considered important. Not only is the language a problem, but the different cultural barriers means the children have a good chance of being neglected. The poverty and the violence in the family causes many to break up, which becomes a problem for society.

Because of these problems the government and many NGOs are actively involved in helping these immigrant families. Even with all these efforts there are many women who are in very difficult situations: separated by death, divorce, or expelled by the in-laws, they end up trying to make it on their own. Their future is bleak, they are full of fear, have little strength, the violence they have heretofore experienced, does not compare with the fear they have facing the future.

These women are not just the object of our compassion, but they should be helped to become part of society. The work of their rehabilitation is important for their good and the good of society.

The government has now made it necessary for those marrying a Korean to know the language. It is a need to help the brides adapt to Korea .This is an area in which the Church is taking a very active part. The efforts of the government and the different groups in our society should bring about change. Those in responsible positions in the Catholic Church dealing with immigrant problems had a recent round table discussion, in which they have made known their proposals for improvement. The Church, and other parts of society know Korea is no longer a one cultured society, consequently the way of looking at the country has to change.

Children Born in Her Heart, Not by Pain

The Catholic paper had an article on a family that adopted 6 children after they had raised two boys born through pain. The other 6 were born in her heart: the mother's words for the birth of the adopted children into their family.



In Korea the blood line is very important. This was explained in a previous blog. This is breaking down, Korea is no longer sending that many children to other countries for adoption as in previous years. The family that was written up, not only adopted 6 children but was instrumental in getting 25 Korean families to adopt; this was recognized by the government and were given an official commendation.



Korea was considered by many to be an exporter of babies overseas. This is changing for there are now more in country adoptions than those sent overseas. The example of this Catholic family written up in the Peace Weekly is a sign that efforts are being made and with success. Publicity is a good means of spreading the good that is being done by many in Korean Society.



In Korea a child born out of wedlock is a great shame for the parents and they do not want it known, however, 32% of the single mothers in 2008 decided to keep their children, an increase over previous years. There are also many in-country adoptions done secretely. The government is making subsidies for single mothers available that will be more realistic, so there are changes that have helped the in-country adoptions. I have even heard of a young man who went to a home for unwed mothers to find a wife. He thought that a women who had the strength to overcome the stigma of being an unwed mother and refused to abort, would make a good wife.

Accolades for Gyodong High School

There was a surprising bit of news here in Gyodong recently: the high school with only 62 students had everyone of the students in 3rd year entering college. The The Joang Daily headlined the article: Remote island school triumphs-Gyodong High students win college places without relying on costly private tuition.

Exams are important in Korea, a history that goes back centuries. Many changes have been made but we still have the remains of the system in the civil servant exams, college entrance exams along with military exams . Each student is required to take the exam for college entrance, and the efforts to prepare for the exams are many and can be expensive, for those living in the country it is difficult to compete with those in the cities.

Parents living in the country or an island such as Gyodong, if finances permit, will send their children to the mainland and the better schools. It is obvious that those who have the benefit of better secondary education do a better job in the college entrance. This means that many students live apart from their parents, this makes the triumphant of Gyodong High School quite an achievement. When the better students decide to leave for studies in another area, the capability of the student body is diminished, efforts of the teachers not appreciated and the students and teachers discouraged.

There were fifteen students that earned admission to four-year universities and the rest to community colleges. Some of the schools were some of the best in the country. It is a credit to the principal who was recently appointed. The citizens of Gyodong asked for him to come to the island since he was just made a principal; being from the island they felt he would take a great interest in the education of the students. That is exactly what happened and the achievement was recognized by the media. Last year there were only 4 that were admitted to university. This means that they have to study for another year to take the exams again, usually attending academies.

In Korea, high school is not mandatory unlike middle school education. 97% of South Korea's young people complete high school which is the the highest percentage of any country. All the classrooms have high speed Internet access, the first to have this capability. It does show the interest that Korea has for education and its efforts in that field

Passing the school recently I saw placards out in front of the gate, directing our attention to the success. It will probably mean there will be fewer parents deciding to send their children to the city in the years to come.

Sister Jean Maloney, Maryknoller, at 80

Maryknoll Sister Jean Maloney was written up in the Peace Weekly, acknowledging her many years of work for the marginalized in Korean Society. Those who know Sister have called her the Korean Mother Theresa.

She entered the Maryknoll Sisters Congregation in 1950; after her first vows came to Korea in 1953, and worked as a nurse in the Maryknoll Hospital in Pusan. This was a very difficult time, she worked on the language in the morning and worked until late at night as a hospital nurse. The hospital was taking care of over 2000 patients every day; because of the devastation from the Korean War, many needed food and were afflicted with many contagious diseases such as tuberculosis.

Sister said: "It was very difficult, for we couldn't care for all that came and when we had to send them away and they did not come back the next morning, I was deeply troubled that they possibly had died because of our lack of care for them."

From Pusan she went to start a new clinic in Jeung Pyeong , Chung Puk Do, and after 3 years returned to Pusan. In 1963 until 1974 she worked in Kyeong Ki Do, Kang Hwa island, where she established Christ the King Clinic and was the administrator and director. At that time she not only worked in the hospital but in the parish and with workers.

It was during this time in Kang Hwa that the textile factory,1968 incident, developed: the girls who were members of the YCW (Young Christian Workers) were fired for starting a union. This incident was the first in which the Church was involved and was the start of future involvement in the problems of laborers in our society.

It was her involvement with the workers and experiencing their difficulty that made her decide to go to Seoul and work with the workers in an area where they were living. During this time she worked assisting AMOR ( Asia, Oceania Meeting of Religious). They planned an exposure trip to a 'red light ' district where they heard the stories of these women and were greatly moved. It was another change in the life of Sister Jean. " I had thought that I had nothing to do with these women but after hearing their stories I couldn't get rid of the idea that I was a hypocrite. I cried for many days after and wanted to go and live with them."

Sister Jean started counseling many of these women and with the help of another woman decided to start Magdalena House, a place of rest for those who were involved in the selling of sex. She remained in that work for 13 years, helping these women escape their life of prostitution, giving them hope and a feeling of self worth. She lived with them, ate with them, and cried and laughed with them.

Sister has now been given another work by the Maryknoll Congregation; she will accomplish this work as she has done all the others, with a heart full of thanks to God for allowing her to continue her work in Korea. On this Feast of the Epiphany may she be blessed with many more years in being a light and service to others.

Another Reason to Have Joy in the New Year

After 345 days the "Yongsan Disaster" was finally dramatically concluded. Yongsan is the location of the building in which five victims and one police officer were killed, in a standoff with the police who tried forcibly to evict them from the building that was set to be demolished .

The funeral for the victims will be held on Jan. 9. The development companies and Seoul City agreed on a compensation package and will take care of the funeral expenses. The bodies of those five who were killed were awaiting burial in the mortuaries. With this agreement, all will return to normal at the Yongsan site of Masses held during the confrontation. When the good news came, a Mass was being celebrated at the site with the temperature 13 below zero. The Masses and demonstrating will stop, with a final Mass on the 6th of January.

Details of the agreement, such as the amount of the settlement will not be disclosed.

The Prime Minister visited the bereaved families and offered apologies.
The settlement came through the mediation of Seoul City Mayor:
"I am grateful to the religious leaders who assisted in the arbitration and citizens who watched over the incident," Seoul Mayor said. "The city will proactively tackle problems in urban redevelopment in the future."

The Catholic Church was very active in trying to come to a just conclusion to the stand off between the families, the development companies and government. The Cardinal alluded to Yongsan many times and Bishop Choi, who is the bishop in charge of the Bishops' Justice and Peace Committee, also went to the Yongsan site. If it wasn't for the Catholic Priests Association for Justice and Peace, we probably would not have come to this rather belated compromise. The demonstrating will end but it is very clear in the eyes of many that all is not well when it comes to development and the rights of those that are in the way of this development.

Hopefully the words of the mayor will mean something in the future when those with little public backing, the week and poor in our society, are forced to leave their place of work or living, for development projects.

A Korean Pep Talk for the New Year

The following paragraphs are the New Year's greeting to the readers of the Catholic Peace Weekly from the editor: saying goodbye to the year of the ox and welcoming the year of the tiger with blessings to all. The following is a summary of what he said.

Last year, although all was rather gloomy, we decided to begin with a cheerful heart. This year we are told we are recovering, but it is best not to be too optimistic. If we have, to live as not having, if we do not have, to live as having. It is necessary to begin the new year without many words and with determination.

We had problems from the outside and now are facing them also from within the country. It is like a boiled bowl of gruel, boil it too much no one eats, boil it properly and all will benefit; we must face the problems with a cool head.

Koreans when belittling ourselves compared the country to a rabbit. When our spirit returned we compared the country to a tiger. Our ancestors compared the country to a tiger. Should we not again look at ourselves as a tiger.

A tiger is a cruel wild animal, has sharp teeth and shrewed, it is easy to be fearful of the tiger; our ancestors, however, attributed to the tiger a warm tenderness: this we see in our folk tales and narratives. At the sight of persimmons the tiger fled , trying to reach some children in a tree, used a rotten rope and fell into a millet patch , smoked a pipe, and enjoyed leisure. The tiger comes across as a humorous character. A friend to us in travel, faithful, returns favors , he comes into our lives as a friend.

This is the year of the metal (white) tiger. Although we are afraid of the tiger we are in a friendly relationship with the tiger. Let us all imitate the tiger: strong, shrewed, with sharp teeth, and yet fled the persimmons, smoked the long pipe and enjoyed his leisure. Let us be like the tiger, hide the claws and be a friend to travelers.

We are too sensitive. Even with a very small commotion, we are quick to get nervous. A well bred and reserved person , who doesn't lose his cool , is considered a person with dignity. When the country is is in turmoil let us keep our presence of mind, take all in stride, learning from the tiger.

Looking over the words of the editorial it was easy to see that he is addressing a populace that understands his allusions. It was one culture; they all knew the proverbs, the folklore, and knew what resonates within their hearts. This is changing. There is a sadness in seeing this change, but it is a globalization that can't be stopped. One can see the vanishing of a way of life as the country because more multicultural with the passing of the years. A Happy New Year.

The Year of the Tiger 2010

Someone asked me how we celebrate the solar New Year in Korea. The Koreans like many others in the Orient, if Catholic celebrate the New Year on three different occasions. The Catholics start the liturgical year on the first Sunday of Advent. Then as a world citizen they celebrate the solar New Year and finally they celebrate the new year that really counts, the lunar New Year. There is no red letter day for Advent, only one red letter day for Jan. 1st but for the lunar New Year they get 3 red letter days. This year it falls on the 14 of Feb. which happens to be a Sunday.

Tomorrow we will celebrate the coming of the solar New Year with a Mass in the morning . Jan. 1st is the feast day of Mary, Mother of God and World Peace Day for the Catholics beginning the new year. The Koreans use the word 'Pok' (Blessing), very often during this time of the year and more so at the lunar New Year.

This is the year of the tiger even it doesn't start until Feb.14th, the lunar New Year. It will be the year of the white tiger or the metal tiger. In the Korean traditional Chinese calendar there is a cycle of 60 years which would be like our century. The name of each year has the name of one of the 12 animals and one of the 10 heavenly stems, in combination they give each year of the cycle a different name.

'Pok' is a word with much meaning and all good. It can be considered blessings of a material kind but also of a spiritual nature. The word that we used for blessing in our Korean New Testament in Ephesians 1:3 is 'pok': "Praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has bestowed on us in Christ every spiritual blessing in the heavens." We are asking as Christians to have others blessed in every way with our greetings at this time of year. The ideogram you have on the top left is the Chinese for blessing; on the left side of the character you have the heavens sending us blessings, one of our big material blessings is to have enough on our tables to eat: the right side is an open mouth and a field from which the food comes.

A Blessed New Year and many blessings during the days to come and always.