Ministry of Justice Reviews Granting Long-Term Residency to Foreign Seafarers Who Rescued Lives in Wildfires

Saved Dozens of Residents in a Yeongdeok-gun Village
Carried Residents on His Back to the Breakwater 300 Meters Away from the Village

The Ministry of Justice is considering granting long-term residence (F-2) status to a foreign seafarer who saved dozens of residents in a village in Yeongdeok-gun when the wildfire in Uiseong, Gyeongbuk, started.

On the 1st, the Ministry of Justice (acting Minister Kim Seok-woo) announced that it is considering this in recognition of the Indonesian national seafarer Sugiyanto (31) for his contribution to rescuing many lives.

Ministry of Justice building. Photo by Yonhap News

Long-term residence status can be granted by the Minister of Justice to individuals who are recognized to have made special contributions to the Republic of Korea or contributed to the promotion of public interest.

The wildfire that started on the 25th in Uiseong, Gyeongbuk, spread to coastal villages including Chuksan-myeon in Yeongdeok-gun. Around 11 p.m. on the night of the fire, as the wildfire rapidly expanded, village fishing cooperative leader Yoo Myung-shin began evacuating residents together with Sugiyanto.

Sugiyanto carried residents on his back and evacuated them to the breakwater in front of the village, about 300 meters away, rescuing many lives. Having entered the country eight years ago, Sugiyanto has been working as a seafarer here continuously and is known to be proficient in Korean life to the extent that he calls grandmothers "halmae," a Gyeongsang-do dialect term.

Earlier, the Ministry of Justice decided to exempt fines until this month even if the stay period cannot be extended within the designated period due to wildfire damage.

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