Who is a Refugee,

According to the Korean Refugee law, a refugee is someone who is,

“a foreigner who is unable or does not desire to receive protection from the nation of his/her nationality in well-grounded fear that he/she is likely to be persecuted based on race, religion,  nationality, the status of a member of a specific social group, or political opinion, or a stateless foreigner who is unable or does not desire to return to the nation in which he/she resided before entering the Republic of Korea (hereinafter referred to as nation of settlement) in such fear” (Refugee Act, Article 2, subparagraph 1)

There are two important parts that you should consider, if you want to know if your refugee case will (or should) be accepted in Korea.

1. You must be afraid to go back to your country because of a reason(s) that have to do with either:

A. Race;

B. Religion;

C. Nationality;

D. Status of a member of a specific social group (What this means is that you have to be a person who belongs to a group of people who are different from everyone else in that country, for example, ‘women’ can be a specific social group for some countries where women’s rights are a serious issue. Another example can be gay people and other sexual minorities in some countries.); and/or

E. Political Opinion.

- Note that problems such as civil war, crime (gangs and such), economic problems, private disputes such as inheritance,marriage, etc. and other issues that does not belong to the five categories above are not a valid reason to apply for refugee status

- An issue may have multiple aspects.

For example, someone who is running away from civil war, which is not a valid refugee claim in itself, may actually have been politically active,and that is the reason why he/she is afraid to be harmed in the civil war. If this is the case,you can say your case is based on political opinion.

Many political disputes have racial/religious backgrounds as well. In cases like these, your case can belong to more than one category.

2. Your fear must be well-grounded:

Basically, the thing you are afraid of must be serious enough for the Korean government to agree to provide you with protection. Even if you are justifiably afraid of something, if you can solve the problem by reporting the issue to the police in your country, or if you can just move to a different part within your country and be free of the problem, your claim will not get accepted.

If you are trying to apply for refugee status in Korea, please consider the above, and if you need help, please don’t hesitate to contact me.