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New couple symbolizes hope as Afghan evacuees establish new lives in Korea

Published: 06 Jan. 2025, 15:28 Updated: 06 Jan. 2025, 17:50

LIM JEONG-WON
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Abed Emad, right, and Nezami Ayesha, a couple who married in August last year, are the first couple among the Afghan special contributors who settled in Ulsan in 2021. [KIM YOUN-HO]

The first new couple among the Afghan "special contributors" and their family members who settled in Korea have two wishes for the New Year — to achieve economic stability and to welcome a child into the world.

Abed Emad, 25, and Nezami Ayesha, 21, married in Ulsan in August last year. They were among the children of the 21 families of Afghan special contributors — 129 persons in total — who fled Afghanistan and settled in Ulsan four years ago.

Special contributors are Afghans who helped the Korean government's activities in their homeland before the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021. Many worked as pharmacists, doctors, nurses, drivers and cleaners.

After the Taliban seized power, the Korean government evacuated them and their families from Kabul aboard military transport planes as part of "Operation Miracle."

At the time of their escape from Afghanistan in 2021, Emad was a student at Kabul University, and Ayesha was a high school student.

After their wedding, the couple settled in their new home in the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Central Apartment in Dong District, Ulsan. The Central Apartment, built in 1985, was renovated by the Korean government and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2021 as a group residence for Afghan special contributors and their families.

Among the Afghan special contributors and their relatives, 21 are employed by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ partner companies.

“My father is working at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, and he told the company that his son, who came to Korea with him, would become half of the first new couple among the Afghan special contributors," Emad said. "The company provided a separate newlywed home for us in the apartment complex.”

Abed Emad, right, and Nezami Ayesha, a couple who married in August last year, are the first couple among the Afghan special contributors who settled in Ulsan in 2021. [KIM YOUN-HO]

Emad and Ayesha have been close since the summer of 2022, getting to know each other through acquaintances. Ayesha was Emad’s younger sister’s friend, and they often met in the same apartment complex.

After learning of the two’s relationship, Emad’s father, Abed Abdul Hafiz, brought up the topic of marriage to Ayesha’s father, Nezami Nezamuddin, who happily accepted the match. In Afghanistan, it is common for couples to get married between the ages of 18 and 25.

The couple got engaged on Christmas Day in 2023, wearing traditional Afghan attire for the event. The wedding was held on Emad’s birthday on Aug. 26 last year.

The couple’s wish for the New Year is financial stability, just like any other newlywed, and to give birth to a child. The birth would be the first in Korea to an Afghan special contributor or family member, symbolizing their settlement in the country.

Ayesha, who works at a coffee shop in Ulsan, plans to enroll as a dental engineering major at a university in September. Emad, currently attending Ulsan College, also plans to work harder at part-time jobs on weekends and vacations. After graduation, he dreams of working at a bank.

“Korea is no longer a foreign country but a country for my wife and me," Emad said. "I will study and learn about Korea even harder so that my family can live comfortably in a safe Korea for a long time.”

“In the New Year, the Afghan special contributors wish to continue living peacefully together at the apartment complex in Ulsan and continue working at Hyundai,” said Abdul, Emad’s father.

Afghanistan celebrates the New Year on the first day of the Persian calendar, March 21. On this day, in Afghanistan, people celebrate the New Year by preparing traditional food and getting together with family to exchange words of wisdom.

BY KIM YOUN-HO, LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]