Number of Kosian Children Rising Sharply

Min-guk, a 6-year-old-boy living in Iksan, Chollabuk-do, looks discouraged. He spends most time in Noribang, a neighborhood kindergarten, where he finds it hard to make friends because of his big eyes and dark skin.

After staying there until five in the evening, he returns home to wait for his mother to come from work. Seeing his mother late at night, his face wears a smile. Min-guk is a Kosian who was born between a Korean mother and a Bangladeshi father. He has never seen his father who was repatriated to his home country as an illegal immigrant.

Han-byul, a 5-year-old-girl whose father is a Pakistani, also feels said about her appearance, although her family lives together in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do. “I am worried if she gets confused about her identity as she grows,” said her Korean mother.

With the number of foreign workers residing in Korea reaching up to 300,000, that of Kosians, children born between Koreans and Southeast Asians, is also soaring. While those families struggle to become a part of the society, the government has yet to take due measures to ease their suffering.

* Fact about Kosians

The word ‘Kosian,’ which combines Korean and Asian, was first used by civic organizations helping foreign laborers to settle in the country. ‘Kosians’ refer to children born between Koreans and Asians, especially Southeast Asians.

Although the official statistics is not available, civic organizations estimate that the number of the Korean Asians will reach some 5,000 to 10,000. They are mostly populated in Ansan, Shiheung, Bucheon and Incheon where industrial complexes in which foreign laborers work are located. The estimate, however, is based on married couples, which implies the actual number is much higher.

“Since 1988 the law has granted a child who has a Korean parent Korean nationality,” said Yang Hye-woo (36), director at the migrant workers’ right center located in Incheon. “As they are registered as Koreans, it is hard to set a correct data,” she added.

* Hardship

The most difficult part is that children are growing up in an insecure environment. As late as 1999, foreign workers who entered the country illegally were subject to repatriation. Although the government amended the related law to grant a F2 visa to those married to Koreans in 2000 and further Southeast Asians are now allowed to find a job in Korea, most remain unaware of the arrangement.

Even though the job market is open to foreign workers, there are still limitations in what they can choose. And the divorce rate among Korean-Southeast Asian couples is also rising.

* Institutional Arrangements

Since 2000, the government has eased restrictions on foreign workers married to Koreans in a bid to help them to settle down. It has yet to make institutional arrangements, however, which will allow them find jobs and make livings more easily.

And there are few places they can ask for help except some centers led by civic organizations like ‘House of Kosians’ established in the Ansan Foreign Laborer Center in Gyeonggi-do in 1997. “The foremost priority should be helping Kosian families settle down in our society through an institutional mechanism,” said Kim Young-im, director of House of Kosians.

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