By Kim Hyelin and Hahm Hee-eun
Photos = Ministry of Justice

The 1345 Immigration Contact Center, which provides multi-lingual information and counseling services both over the phone and online for the 2.2 million non-citizen residents in Korea, celebrates its 10th anniversary on March 31.

The 1345 Immigration Contact Center first opened in March 2008. Currently, there are 104 counselors who give advice on immigration and residency, and offer information about administrative procedures for everyday life in Korea. Services are provided in 20 languages, including English, Mandarin and Vietnamese, and the center is opened from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

According to user statistics provided by the Ministry of Justice, around 1.68 million consultations were carried out in total in 2017, among which 272,888 were in Mandarin, 69,972 in English and 68,395 in Vietnamese. Regarding the residency status of the individuals in question, the highest numbers of cases were from ethnic Koreans who hold another nationality with F-4 visas (167,712), then non-citizens on working visits with H-2 visas (137,466), and then non-citizens, who are married to a Korean citizen with an F-6 visa (127,688).

The 1345 Immigration Contact Center not only provides counseling services, but also translation and interpretation services for 17 public institutions, including hospitals, police stations and the Financial Supervisory Service. Additionally, the "Local Lawyer for Foreigners" system provides free legal counseling services from approved lawyers at the Ministry of Justice.

The Ministry of Justice stated that it will further expand the numbers of counselors for victims of sexual harassment and violence, and strengthen links between its counseling services and its investigative and prosecutorial departments.

Minister of Justice Park Sang-ki said, “I hope that the 1345 Immigration Contact Center can lead the way in terms of human rights protection for non-citizens by striving to support the victims of sexual violence, and share the hardships they face," at a ceremony to mark the 10th anniversary of the call center on March 23.




kimhyelin211@korea.kr