Republic of Korea - To celebrate International Migrants Day on December 18th and to raise awareness of the positive contributions of migrants in the Republic of Korea (RoK), IOM Seoul is working with renowned sculptor Yi Hwan-Kwon and Seoul Metropolitan Government to organize a sculpture exhibition at the famous Seoul Plaza for the next two weeks.

“IOM Seoul has been looking for innovative ways to conduct awareness raising campaigns to promote positive perceptions of migrants in RoK,” said Miah Park, Head of Office at IOM Seoul. “Migrants make up about four per cent of the whole population here.”

“When we heard Yi was interested in migrant issues, we knew what we wanted to do for this year’s International Migrants Day campaign,” Park continued, explaining how the theme of the campaign has become “My Migrant Neighbour”. 

The exhibition consists of Yi’s three-metre high sculptures depicting three siblings of a marriage migrant mother and a Korean father. They symbolize neighbours from different backgrounds, who enrich South Korean society by bringing diversity to the traditionally homogenous country.

“Unlike what many people think, RoK is not as homogenous as it was a few decades ago,” said Yi. “I wanted to use my work as a tool to bring more attention to the diverse country RoK has become and to encourage people to embrace the diversity our migrant neighbours have brought,” he added.   

The country, which currently hosts over 1.8M migrants, is expecting to welcome the first batch of Myanmar refugees from Thailand next week.

With Seoul Plaza opening its landmark winter ice rink on 17th December, it is anticipated that the campaign will be seen by hundreds of thousands of people, and by many more on TV and other media. 

For further information, please contact Miah Park at IOM Seoul, Tel: +82 70 4820 2781, Email: mipark@iom.int or Eunjin Jeong, Tel: +82 070 4820 2324, Email: ejeong@iom.int