Foreign wives showing off rice cakes they made for Korea’s Chuseok holiday in the central city of Gongju on Sept. 9, 2019. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — One of the largest concerns faced by immigrant women living in South Korea after getting married to a South Korean national is dealing with legal problems caused by various illegal acts, a civic support group for female immigrants said Tuesday.
The Seoul Counseling Center for Migrant Women reported 11,125 cases of counseling related to legal problems last year.
Sorted by issues for counseling, 23.9 percent dealt with sexual harassment, robbery, and divorce.
Other issues included various problems related to livelihood (18.6 percent), divorce counseling (15.8 percent), immigration counseling (9.3 percent), domestic violence (7.2 percent), ‘safe haven’ counseling for female immigrants facing various issues (7.1 percent), marriage counseling (4.8 percent), and medical counseling (3.6 percent).
Counseling on family disputes (2 percent), psychological health (1.7 percent), labor issues (1.3 percent), violence (0.4 percent), and issues of running away from home (0.2 percent) were also included.
“Many female immigrants come to ask about various issues related to immigration since their immigration status after divorce depends largely on their ex-husband,” said Nam Ji-eun, a consultant at the center.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
