A lifeline to immigrant-background young people left behind by Korea’s system

A new fellowship named after Kang Tae-wan has been established to offer a lifeline to immigrant-background young people in South Korea who are falling through the cracks of the system. Kang, who lived in Korea for over two decades as an undocumented immigrant, died in an industrial accident in November 2024, just five months after gaining legal residency. He was 32.

Kang's story, previously featured in a Hankyoreh series, highlighted his long journey to legal status, which required him to work in a depopulated area for five years. His death in an industrial accident while operating heavy equipment has left questions about his employer's criminal liability still under review by the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

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Like any other teenage girl, I love K-pop idols. However, if you want to go to a concert, you need tickets. If you want to get tickets, you need to book tickets, which means you need to be a registered member of ticket sales platforms. But I don’t have the resident registration number you need to create an ID for those sites.

The Kang Tae-wan Fellowship aims to provide emergency assistance to other immigrants facing similar frustrations in their pursuit of making Korea their permanent home. The fund has already named its first three beneficiaries, young individuals who are experiencing significant hardship due to their precarious legal status.

One beneficiary, 24-year-old Marina, suffers from malnutrition and anemia, subsisting on one meal a day for over a year. She faces immense difficulty accessing basic services, such as purchasing tickets for K-pop concerts, because she lacks a resident registration number required for online platforms. This constant struggle has led to depression, for which she has been taking medication since ninth grade. Marina, also known as "Nana," finds solace in moments of acceptance as Korean, a feeling documented in a previous Hankyoreh article about Kang's journey.

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Every time I hit that wall, my mind started overflowing with depressing thoughts.