The humanitarian aid organization International Rescue Committee (IRC) on Dec. 13 said it opened an office in Seoul's Gangnam-gu District on Nov. 1. (Screen capture from IRC's Facebook page)

By Kim Hayeon 

The humanitarian aid organization International Rescue Committee (IRC) has opened in Seoul its first office in Asia.

The IRC on Dec. 13 said it launched the office on Nov. 1 in the capital's Gangnam-gu District. 

Korea is now the fifth country with an IRC office after the U.S., England, Germany and Sweden. 

IRC supports the survival, recovery and reconstruction of the lives of people suffering from humanitarian crises including refugees affected by war and conflict, natural disasters and climate change.

The organization was founded in 1933 at the request of Nobel laureate physicist Albert Einstein, who fled to the U.S. to avoid oppression of Jews by Nazi Germany. 

Over its 90-year history, IRC has conducted humanitarian activities in 40 countries and 28 U.S. cities.

The organization aims to set global standards through its programs using know-how accumulated through immediate and systematic activities in five sectors: health, safety, education, economic well-being and empowerment.

IRC is based in New York and led by former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

hayeounk8@korea.kr