A total of 270 Sakhalin Koreans, including 100-year-old Lee Son-gwi, who was forcibly relocated to Sakhalin during the Japanese colonial era, will make their first permanent return to Korea in 2024. This marks a significant milestone for the first-generation Sakhalin Koreans and their descendants.
These returnees were selected last year as beneficiaries of the Sakhalin Korean Permanent Residency and Settlement Support Program. Among them, 100 individuals will travel from Vladivostok, Russia, by ferry, arriving at Donghae Port’s International Passenger Terminal on February 9. The remaining 170 returnees will enter Korea through individual travel arrangements.
The Overseas Koreans Agency (OKA, Director Lee Sang-deok) and the Korean Red Cross (Chairman Kim Cheol-soo) will host a welcoming ceremony at the international terminal to celebrate their long-awaited return. The event will be attended by Byeon Cheol-hwan, Deputy Director of OKA, and Park Eun-young, Director of the Korean Red Cross Headquarters, who will personally greet the returnees as they step onto Korean soil for the first time in over 80 years.
Among the returnees, Choi Gun-ja (92) is the eldest in the group, and both Deputy Director Byeon and Director Park will escort and welcome her to the ceremony.
In addition to the Sakhalin Korean Permanent Residency Program, OKA is actively running various initiatives to support Sakhalin Koreans, including:
Motherland Visit Program for second and third-generation Sakhalin Koreans,
Legal Assistance Program for Sakhalin returnees, and
First-ever living conditions survey to assess and improve the quality of life for newly resettled Sakhalin Koreans and their accompanying families.
https://newsk.net/korea/?idx=150020314&bmode=view
A total of 270 Sakhalin Koreans, including 100-year-old Lee Son-gwi, who was forcibly relocated to Sakhalin during the Japanese colonial era, will make their first permanent return to Korea in 2024. This marks a significant milestone for the first-generation Sakhalin Koreans and their descendants.
These returnees were selected last year as beneficiaries of the Sakhalin Korean Permanent Residency and Settlement Support Program. Among them, 100 individuals will travel from Vladivostok, Russia, by ferry, arriving at Donghae Port’s International Passenger Terminal on February 9. The remaining 170 returnees will enter Korea through individual travel arrangements.
The Overseas Koreans Agency (OKA, Director Lee Sang-deok) and the Korean Red Cross (Chairman Kim Cheol-soo) will host a welcoming ceremony at the international terminal to celebrate their long-awaited return. The event will be attended by Byeon Cheol-hwan, Deputy Director of OKA, and Park Eun-young, Director of the Korean Red Cross Headquarters, who will personally greet the returnees as they step onto Korean soil for the first time in over 80 years.
Among the returnees, Choi Gun-ja (92) is the eldest in the group, and both Deputy Director Byeon and Director Park will escort and welcome her to the ceremony.
In addition to the Sakhalin Korean Permanent Residency Program, OKA is actively running various initiatives to support Sakhalin Koreans, including:
Motherland Visit Program for second and third-generation Sakhalin Koreans,
Legal Assistance Program for Sakhalin returnees, and
First-ever living conditions survey to assess and improve the quality of life for newly resettled Sakhalin Koreans and their accompanying families.
https://newsk.net/korea/?idx=150020314&bmode=view