Busan Gijang-gun Supports Living Stability Funds for Returning Sakhalin Korean Residents in Yeongju

Starting This September, Monthly Stability Support Fund of 50,000 Won and Shelter Installation

Busan Gijang County Office.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] A support project for Sakhalin ethnic Koreans returning to Yeongju will be carried out in Gijang-gun, Busan.

Starting in September, Gijang-gun plans to provide a monthly living stability support fund of 50,000 KRW, and within this year, intends to build a Sakhalin Korean rest center in Jeonggwan Humansia Complex 1, where the majority of Sakhalin Koreans reside.

Sakhalin Koreans mostly migrated to Sakhalin as conscripted laborers during the late Japanese colonial period, but after the end of the war, they remained in Sakhalin due to the Japanese government's refusal to allow their return to Japan and unilateral nationality revocation.

At the end of the war, about 43,000 Koreans remained in Sakhalin, but by the end of 2017, approximately 26,000 were residing there.

Among them, about 700 are first-generation Koreans. The government and the Korean Red Cross have promoted the permanent return project for Sakhalin ethnic Koreans, and currently, 106 Sakhalin Koreans reside in Gijang-gun.

In February of this year, Gijang-gun, after consultations with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and social security system establishment, enacted the "Ordinance on Support for Permanent Return Sakhalin Korean Residents in Gijang-gun, Busan" in May to help Sakhalin Koreans permanently returning settle and become self-reliant in the local community.

Gijang-gun also plans to promote projects such as living stability support, installation of a Sakhalin residents' rest center, and Korean language and basic life adaptation education.

A Gijang-gun official said, "We will implement practical projects to alleviate the economic burden of mostly elderly Sakhalin Koreans and to enable Sakhalin Koreans in the region to enjoy a healthy old age through the establishment of a rest center."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.