Busan is good

Gov't holding legal consultation services for foreigners

Contents

The government is to hold an extensive explanatory session on Korea's legal system for foreign residents nationwide.

Starting from Tuesday (Nov.20), six central government agencies and 11 local governments, will provide an interagency consultation meeting to help foreign residents better adjust to Korean society.

Foreign workers, foreign students and those who are married to Koreans will be provided various legal consulting services related to areas of acquiring citizenship, medical service, employment, children's education, learning Korean and more from each related ministry.

For example the Ministry of Justice will counsel participants on citizenship and visa extension while the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development will offer programs to help foreign students adapt to campus life and educational opportunities for immigrant children.

The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs will deal with registration for ID cards and welfare and the Ministry of Gender Equality issues related to female immigrants married to Korean men.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare will consider matters on health insurance and other medical service while the Ministry of Labor on possible workplace abuse and other issues of employment in Korea. The Health and Welfare Ministry especially, plans to provide a comprehensive guide book to happy marriage life in Korea.

Ministries sent 207 consultants each and another 132 interpreters to help the meeting proceed smoothly.

As of October, the number of foreigners residing in the country totaled 1,070,000. The figure includes about 107,000 marriage immigrants and some 372,000 foreign workers in Korea, about half of them residing in Seoul and the surrounding province Gyeonggi-do, according to the Korea Immigration Service.

For more information see the accompanying table or contact the Seoul Immigration Office at (02-2650-6399).

* Guide to consultation centers

Region	Schedule	Contact
Seoul	'07.11-21~23	02-2650-6212
Busan	'07.11-28~30	051-461-3030
Incheon	'07.11-28	032-890-6405
Suwon	'07.11-29~30	031-278-3311
Jeju-do	'07.11-21~23	064-722-3494
Daegu	'07.11-21~23	053-980-3566
Daejeon	'07.11-27~29	042-254-8814
Gwangju	'07.11-20~21	062-381-0015
Jeonju	'07.11-27~28	063-245-6164
Chuncheon	'07.11-27~28	033-244-7353
Cheongju	'07.11-27~28	043-236-4901
Nationwide contact: Seoul Immigration Call Center		02-2650-6399

The source of news : Korea.net  November 20, 2007