Refugees from Myanmar

[Anchor Lead]

A number of refugees from Myanmar who were oppressed for their ethnicity and religious beliefs have come to Korea after a long period of living in a limbo. They say they learned about Korean culture from watching Korean TV shows and dreamed of making new lives in Korea.

[Pkg]

Myanmarese refugees are admitted into Korea at the aiport's immigration area. They wave their hands as big cheers welcome them to Korea. They are 23 members of four families who came to Korea through a refugee resettlement program. The refugee resettlement program is a humanitarian project, which offers those in refugee camps who want to come to Korea a chance to settle down here. This man's family was discriminated against in Myanmar for being an ethnic minority. They had lived in a refugee camp in Thailand for 33 years before boarding a plane to Korea.

[Soundbite] Myanmarese Refugee : "It was hard to undergo a resettlement refugee review for five months, but we waited with the belief that Koreans would take us in."

This woman's family was oppressed for religious reasons. They learned about Korean culture by watching the KBS drama "Boys over Flowers."

[Soundbite] Myanmarese Refugee : "I got to understand Korean culture better by watching Korean dramas."

79 foreigners have entered Korea as resettlement refugees since 2015. The Ministry of Justice plans to set up a mid-to-long-term plan and expand the refugee resettlement program.