– Gyeonggi Province will help marriage-based immigrants learn Korean at 58 support centers in 29 cities and districts

Gyeonggi Province will operate an intensive Korean language education program in 29 cities and districts, with the aim of helping marriage-based immigrants overcome language barriers and adjust more easily to Korean society.

The province will select 56 expert organizations in each city and district, and the selected organizations will provide marriage-based immigrants with language education courses. The courses are available to marriage-based immigrants upon request at the nearest language education center to their home as well as at the Support Center for Marriage Immigrants’ Families.

The language education centers not only provide language courses, but also offer planned cultural activities in order to help marriage-based immigrants adjust to Korean society more easily.

As most of the Korean language courses will be provided by private organizations, the competency of the commissioned organizations may determine the success or failure of the initiative. Gyeonggi Province plans to conduct a quality inspection in April in order to ensure that all marriage-based immigrants receive the same quality of service. The province will encourage commissioned organizations to improve weak areas and promote best practices in order to achieve the ultimate goal of helping marriage-based immigrants overcome language barriers.

Gyeonggi Province intends to make an all-out effort to embrace marriage-based immigrants and to help them lead happy lives as members of Korean society.

*Number of marriage-based immigrants residing in Gyeonggi Province: 29,034 (24,964 female immigrants / 4,070 male immigrants)
– Marriage-based immigrants of Gyeonggi Province account for 25.5% of the nation’s marriage-based immigrants (113,656 as of February 2008, based on data released by the Ministry of Justice)