Photos by @junmichaelpark @seoulphotographer for @wsj / In March, I went to Jeju Island with WSJ’s @joshua_chin to report on Chinese Christians who had fled from Shenzhen to Korea, seeking religious freedom.
After new regulations for religious activities came into effect in 2018, the congregation felt that harassment from authorities was increasing. More than 60 members — half of them children — came to Jeju, disguised as tourists.
The adults left China hoping their children would be free of the country’s party-first state education program. Since arriving in Korea, some female members have given birth to babies. These children, however, have no legal protection here.
In 2020, Korea granted asylum to 55 out of 12,000+ applicants — an acceptance rate of a mere 0.4%. The members’ applications have also all been rejected at least once. Because of their legal status and the language barrier, the members can only work menial jobs and live in communes, where they support each other.
As China keeps a tight grip on religious and political freedoms, Korea could see an influx of asylum seekers. In 2018, I covered a story about 500 Yemenis who also came to Jeju to seek asylum, but were not welcomed by locals. As more people seek refuge in Korea, we can no longer look away from global migrations issues.
Many thanks to photo editor @allison_pasek. You can read the article here.
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(Text editing by M.)