Home > National > Social Affairs

Overseas Koreans Agency aims to bolster position of diaspora this year

Published: 11 Feb. 2025, 16:28 Updated: 11 Feb. 2025, 16:28

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

Overseas Koreans Agency (OKA) Commissioner Lee Sang-deok speaks during a press conference at the OKA headquarters in Songdo, Incheon on Feb. 11, 2025. [OVERSEAS KOREANS AGENCY]

The Overseas Koreans Agency (OKA) highlighted its ambition to strengthen the capabilities of the Korean diaspora by promoting various programs encompassing overseas Koreans at home and abroad as it announced its 2025 policy vision Tuesday.

At a press conference held at the OKA headquarters in Songdo, Incheon, on Tuesday, commissioner Lee Sang-deok announced the comprehensive policy plan for this year and said the agency would "focus on expanding the overall capabilities of the global Korean community and realizing the goal of leaping forward as a greater Republic of Korea.”

The OKA, a sub-ministry under the Foreign Ministry launched in June 2023, took over and streamlined the work previously handled by the Foreign Ministry’s overseas Korean policy department and the Overseas Korean Foundation.

Five key tasks to be prioritized in the new year were presented Tuesday: the establishment of a system to strengthen overall policies regarding overseas Koreans, strengthening the identities of overseas Koreans, strengthening protection and support for overseas Koreans befitting Korea's international status, activating and expanding the Korean diaspora network and providing a more convenient living environment for overseas Koreans.

To establish a system to strengthen policies regarding overseas Koreans, the OKA plans to craft legal guarantees to support the settlement of returning compatriots in Korea by promoting a revision of the Basic Act on Overseas Compatriots.

In addition, the OKA plans to strengthen the functions of the Overseas Compatriots Cooperation Center through a reorganization and expand governmentwide collaboration and opinion gathering from overseas Koreans to increase the effectiveness of policy implementation.

To strengthen the identity of overseas Koreans and support the next generation, the OKA will expand support for Korean language schools and improve the Study Korean online education platform to strengthen Korean language education for younger ethnic Koreans.

The OKA also plans to expand the number of participants in homeland invitation training from 2,100 last year to 2,600 in 2025 and expand the invitation scholarship program to strengthen ties with the homeland.

To strengthen the protection and support of overseas Koreans, the program to permanently repatriate Sakhalin Koreans will be expanded, with previous restrictions that allowed only one direct descendant to reside permanently eased to enable all children and spouses to reside together permanently in Korea.

In addition, policies to protect vulnerable compatriots residing overseas, such as support for stateless ethnic Koreans in the former Soviet Union or for Korean children of Vietnamese women returning to Korea, will be strengthened. Customized settlement support policies for compatriots residing in Korea will also be implemented in earnest.

Overseas Koreans Agency (OKA) Commissioner Lee Sang-deok speaks during a press conference at the OKA headquarters in Songdo, Incheon on Feb. 11, 2025. [OVERSEAS KOREANS AGENCY]

To activate the Korean network and support the global Korean economy, the OKA said it would organize events such as the 2025 World Korean Business Convention in Atlanta, the World Korean Presidents Convention and the World Korean Next Generation Convention.

The agency also plans to operate the Overseas Korean Business Advisory Group, connect domestic small- and medium-sized enterprises with overseas Korean businesspeople through an online platform, and actively support domestic companies' overseas expansion.

The OKA is also working to foster convenient living conditions for overseas Koreans and improve digital services. To this end, the agency will expand one-stop, digital integrated civil services to enable non-face-to-face identity verification without visiting overseas missions and enhance the convenience of e-government services.

The OKA further plans to promote legal revisions to guarantee overseas Koreans’ right to vote and simplify overseas Koreans’ registration procedures.

“It has been over a year and a half since the launch of our agency, and we have made considerable achievements so far, but we still have a long way to go,” Lee said during the press conference. “For the agency to settle in completely as a functioning organization, we will need more effort and attention, and I ask everyone to give us time.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]