Seoul Lights Up for the Holiday Season - Korea.net

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COVER The Ministry of Justice More Professionals Become Naturalized Koreans BY LEE JI-YOON STAFF WRITER Aceremony for 26 new Koreans who became naturalized in October was held by the Ministry of Justice on Oct. 27. To become a Korean citizen, one is required to have lived here more than five years and pass the naturalization test. According to Korea Immigration Service, over 9,000 people from foreign countries have become naturalized Koreans this year as of September. The number is expected to surpass the record 13,000 by the end of the year. Vladmir V. Saveliev (right) from Russia makes an oath at his naturalization ceremony held by the Ministry of Justice on Oct. 27 Only 54,000 people have taken Korean citizenship since the country’s independence from Japan’s colonial rule in 1945. Chinese account for almost 45,000 of that total, followed by people from the Philippines, Mongolia and Pakistan — most seeking a better life here. However, as the number of naturalization applicants from other regions like Europe has increased, their nationality and occupations have become varied and more professionals with higher education are included. Vladmir V. Saveliev from Russia is one such individual. Saveliev, 54, is an expert in the field of three-dimensional image display and has published some 10 articles in international journals and holds five patents. After two failures, he finally passed the naturalization test and made an oath in Korean at the ceremony representing others. When asked why he became a Korean citizen, he told reporters, “Because I love Korea more than Koreans do.” He first visited Korea in 1998 when he was invited by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology to take part in a project with the Ministry of Information and Communication. After the successful completion of the work, he came to Korea again and has stayed here since 2000. It did not take long for him to make a decision on naturalization because he had already been fascinated with Korean history, culture and food. Of course, the country’s advanced technology was the decisive reason. “I have wanted to work in Korea — which has the world’s best technology in the display area,” he said. He is currently working at the Research Institute of Electrical and Computer Engineering, which is affiliated with Hanyang University in Seoul. Another is Kim Myung-kuk. Kim, 38, who was born in China and majored in animal husbandry, also became naturalized in October. Since earning doctor’s and master’s degrees at Seoul National University, he has been working as a researcher at the school. He studies eco-friendly pig raising without using antibiotics in their feed. His research is expected to help Korea’s livestock industry, largely dependent on feed materials from abroad, and struggling to compete with cheaper imported products. Han Yeon, 35, is a naturalized Korean citizen from China who has exported Korean children’s books of more than 100 titles. After studying the Korean language and literature at a local university, she has been working at a publishing company and has written two books in Korean. Two sisters who had Taiwanese nationality also became newly naturalized citizens. Both studied pharmacology at a university in Korea and are planning to open a drug store. ■ A family is awarded naturalization certificates Foreign engineers work with their Korean fellows The Ministry of Justice The Korea Herald 6 KOREA DECEMBER 2008 DECEMBER 2008 KOREA 7
COVER The Experience of Foreign Students in Korea BY KIM SO-HYUN KOREA HERALD STAFF WRITER Exchange students from abroad learn how to make a traditional fan Hema Haninway started learning Korean in 2003 while doing her master’s program in political science in Delhi. She chose Korean after much thought because she was impressed by the country’s dramatic economic growth. “In order to learn about a country’s politics or culture, I believed it was essential to learn the language,” she said. She is now a master’s student of Korean language and culture education at Korea University. “Upon graduation next year, I plan to go back to India and teach Korean. I also plan to open an institution for stronger ties between Korea and India.” Hema is one of the 64,000 foreign students studying in Korean universities. Thanks to increased scholarship opportunities, the number of students from abroad surged by more than five-fold compared to 12,314 in 2003. Seventy percent of them are from China and another 12 percent are from other Asian countries. Seoul has sought to attract more foreign students through its “Study Korea” project devised in 2004. It plans to extend state scholarships to The Korea Herald Female students try on Hanbok, traditional Korean clothing The Korea Herald 3,000 students in 2012, up from 837 this year. About another 3,000 foreign students are on scholarships provided by Korean universities themselves. Some, like 23-year-old Ali from Pakistan, come as exchange students. Ali, a business management student at Seoul National University, chose SNU on the advice of his professor back home and hopes to learn from Korea’s advanced industries before returning to Pakistan to run his own packaging material business. International students are admitted to various departments ranging from cultural properties to computer science, but not all of them come with a good command of Korean. Still being a fraction of the student population, many face difficulties as minorities. Malla Thakuri, studying atmospheric science at Yonsei University, did not know she’d be taking some of her courses in Korean. After filling her lab hours from morning through evening, the Nepalese student strives to learn Korean and do assignments for her major. “This semester, I’m taking five courses and one is in Korean language. It is so difficult as I’m learning basic Korean now,” she said. “But language is the one problem I have. I like the food and the culture.” A Cambodian student studying urban engineering signed up for English courses only. But because he is the only non-Korean in his class, the professor often uses Korean during the lecture and gives him separate lessons. “About 35 percent of the foreign students major in engineering,” said Sohn Sung-moon, Education Minister Ahn Byung-man (left) meet with 26 students from Asian countries. Yonhap 8 KOREA DECEMBER 2008 DECEMBER 2008 KOREA 9
Page 3: Opening a communicative space betwe
Page 7 and 8: COVER The Korea Herald U.S. Enginee
Page 9 and 10: DIPLOMACY Yonhap “Sets of bilater
Page 11 and 12: GLOBAL KOREA Yonhap Ramsar Changwon
Page 13 and 14: GLOBAL KOREA World Ocean Forum 2008
Page 15 and 16: CULTURE Emography on a closet Calli
Page 17 and 18: CULTURE Royal Protocols of the Jose
Page 19 and 20: CULTURE Hanbok Artist Makes Style S
Page 21 and 22: PEOPLE Moon Young Doo Credia Japane
Page 23 and 24: ART A scene from “A Ballerina Who
Page 25 and 26: TRAVEL Inje Ice Fish Festival Night
Page 27 and 28: EVENTS Daegu Photo Biennale 2008 1
Page 29 and 30: BOOKS Goguryeo: In Search of Its Cu
Page 31 and 32: SPECIAL SERIES they are perceived a
Page 33 and 34: SPECIAL SERIES 880,000 new jobs wil

Seoul Lights Up for the Holiday Season - Korea.net

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