By Robert Koehler
SEOUL, Sept. 8 — It's raining heavily outside the Seongbuk Multicultural Village in an upscale northern district of Seoul, the forests and hills surrounding the neighborhood hidden in a thick mist.
Inside, however, a small group of Japanese housewives is snug and dry in a classroom, where an instructor teaches the art of Korean papercraft. One of them, Ayumi Onihana, has been coming here since the center opened in July of last year.
"I'm interested in learning Korean culture," she says, "so I come here to learn Korean papercraft."
One of the most spectacular demographic transformations affecting Korea as it enters a new decade is the rise of so-called multicultural families, or damunhwa gajeong.
According to the Ministry of Justice, there were an estimated 1.5 million foreigners residing in Korea in 2010, including 290,000 multicultural families and 167,000 foreign-born women who have obtained Korean citizenship. As of the end of 2009, over 100,000 children were being raised in multicultural households.
For a nation that has long prided itself on its ethnic homogeneity, however, the change has not been an entirely easy one. So-called "marriage immigrants" face a number of significant challenges as they adjust to new life in Korea: these challenges have an impact on their children, too.
In Seoul, the city's various Multicultural Village Centers do what they can to provide support for these families through a range of educational and cultural programs.
Across town from the tony Seongbuk-dong area, in the gritty, working class neighborhood of Daerim-dong in southern Seoul, a small group of Vietnamese wives gathers in the lounge of the Yeongdeungpo Multicultural Village Center, awaiting the start of a Korean language class.
The Yeongdeungpo office is one of the largest of Seoul's Multicultural Village Centers, and a map on the back wall reveals why: about 38,000 foreigners from 58 nations reside in the district of Yeongdeungpo-gu. Ethnic Koreans from China (joseonjok) are an especially strong presence in the district, accounting for about 90 percent of the area's foreign population.
Lee In-jae, the center manager, shows off the facility: there's a spacious classroom for, among other things, learning Korean and studying for the driver's test, a computer lab and a nursery for the children. In the lounge, there's a library of books in a multitude of languages, including translations of Korean literature in Chinese, Vietnamese and Mongolian.
Due to the large number of foreigners living in the district, the center never takes a day off, with staff rotating for the weekend shift, Lee says.
Some of Yeongdeungpo's foreign population is transient, but others have put down more permanent roots.
"We have about 2,700 foreign wives in the district, mostly from China and Vietnam," explains Lee, adding that the problems they face are considerable.
"They face a language barrier, a cultural barrier and economic difficulties Their language is different, and their cultures are different, so they are cut off from dialogue. Then, in two to three years, they have children. They are usually raised by their mothers, but since the mothers speak poor Korean, the children have problems with Korean, too, so they experience problems adjusting to school."
Both the wives and husbands can feel disappointment and hurt, too. Lee notes that many of the wives who come to Korea go to families with economic problems.
"Many of the wives come to Korea for a better life, so when they get here, it can cause disappointment. The men, too, can feel hurt, as Korea is still a Confucian society, so there's still a stigma attached to marrying a foreign woman."
Yeongdeungpo Multicultural Village Center tries to assist foreign wives by providing Korean classes and cultural programs to help them absorb Korean culture. Twice a year, the center also takes multicultural couples to nearby resorts on a two-day program where they can listen to instructors and, more importantly, talk with one another.
"Sometimes, couples go in separate, but they come out holding hands," Lee boasts with a smile.
At Seongbuk Multicultural Village Center, hidden in a more upscale neighborhood where much of Seoul's diplomatic community resides, manager Choi Ok cautions that not all immigrant wives have the same experience.
"Different women from different countries in different families have different experiences," she says.
For instance, she says, Japanese wives, many of whom are in Seongbuk-dong, come from a comparatively more advanced nation and often miss "the little things" about home, while women from Vietnam and the Philippines take time adjusting to Korea's relatively advanced infrastructure.
Families in the district tend to be well-off, and husband and wife often meet on business trips or foreign travel, not through so-called "marriage brokers," as is often the case elsewhere.
Still, there are common problems faced by women even here.
Ayumi, who came to Korea in April last year to marry a man she met on an earlier trip to Korea, says, "I can't speak Korean well, so I find it difficult to speak with Koreans."
She also lives with her mother-in-law, an experience she notes can be a tad trying.
"Our culture and way of thinking are different, so it can be quite difficult. Koreans always do things together, like eating and chores. Japanese, however, like doing things alone. Holidays can be difficult, too," she explains.
Choi explains that the center provides a place for women with similar experiences to meet and unwind. "We try to provide them a space to make friends with other women. And we give them a place to recharge: many of the women spend all day with their families, and that can be tiring." (PNA/Yonhap)
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