The Korean government’s four visions of multicultural family support policy are: helping marriage immigrants’ early and successful settlement and engagement in economic activities, providing family assistance for migrants so that they can maintain a stable living, helping multicultural families raise healthy children as future global human resources, and raising the awareness of multiculturalism in Korean society.

To support multicultural families, the related Korean government ministries have been playing their parts in various sectors, including education, health and welfare, immigration and labor. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has been developing Korean language education books, while the Ministry of Education, Science & Technology has been providing educational support for children from multicultural families. The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Labor are in charge of immigration and migrant worker-related labor support policies, respectively, while the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs is promoting health and social welfare support policies for multicultural families.

Ms. Fernandez, a Filipina wife married to a Korean husband in Naju, Jeollanam-do (South Jeolla Province), had the same issues in her early married life in Korea, as nobody helped her learn the Korean language. She had no time to go to free Korean language classes offered at the community library or immigration center because she had to help her husband with farming work and raise their children. She has difficulties teaching Korean to her children at home due to her insufficient knowledge of Korean. But these days, she meets her Korean language teacher three times a week thanks to the government’s children-rearing support project for multicultural families. Now she can talk better in Korean and feel better by releasing her stress, because her teacher listens to her stories and problems and introduces Korean culture.

Oguchi Yumi, a Japanese lady who lives in Busan, Gyeongsangnam-do (South Gyeongsang Province), with her Korean husband, is another beneficiary of the government’s child-rearing support project for multicultural families. She was unable to teach her kids Korean at home like ordinary Korean parents because of her lack of Korean language skills, but now she feels more confidence in teaching her children because she can receive help from her Korean language teacher.   

On the seventh floor of the “Save the Children” building in Changcheon-dong, Seoul, a 29-year-old Vietnamese teacher named Phuong is busy with seven children every second Saturday. These children are all from Vietnamese-Korean couples. Since November 2008, six Vietnamese teachers at the “Hana Saturday Vietnam School” have been teaching Vietnamese culture and language to children from Korean-Vietnamese families in order to help immigrant spouses educate their children and live happier lives in Korea. Like Phuong, more Asian students studying in Korea are voluntarily joining such support groups in Korea to help marriage immigrants of their own nationality settle easily in Korea. More civic groups and local government entities also operate support programs for marriage immigrants and multicultural families. Along with non-governmental organizations, the Korea Foundation for Women is joining the movement. Through its multiculturalism project, the organization supports various programs for marriage immigrants in cooperation with 29 related civic groups. It also provides 3 million won per person as emergency medical care in order to help marriage immigrants in need.

Choe Seon-ae, a naturalized Korean, also had the same difficulties a few years ago when she came to Korea from China to live with her Korean husband. But she realized that marriage immigrants like her need to act as mentors for others because they can better understand their difficulties and solutions. Choe now works as a Korean-Chinese interpreter and translator at various events and international functions. For marriage immigrants like Choe, internet community cafes exist, where international spouses can exchange useful information and support each other. "Handa" (cafe.daum.net/handa09) is one of these cafes for multicultural families in Korea.

Cristina Confalonieri, one of the celebrity panelists on popular TV talk show "Beauty's Talk" is no exception to these difficulties, as an Italian wife living with her Korean husband and mother-in-law. Since her wedding in December 2007, she has gone through trials and errors like other multicultural families, but she says there are no big difficulties, as long as family members accept and understand the differences between them as natural. At home she speaks Korean to her mother-in-law and Italian to her husband. At work, she speaks English to her co-workers in Yeoksam Global Village. She does make occasional mistakes because of cultural differences, but her husband and mother-in-law's support and understanding have helped her adapt to life in Korea better and have made her marriage happier.