KCA takes the lead in promoting foreign immigrants’ rights and interests in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice

- Consumer education targeting foreign immigrants in Korea to be provided -

    On Dec. 10, the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) (President Lee Hee-Sook) and the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) (Minister Park Sang-ki) signed an MOU to promote immigrant consumers’ rights and interests at the KCA head office located in North Chungcheong Province.

    
    There have thus far been numerous cases where foreign immigrants often experienced greater damage in their consumption life, and had difficulties exercising their consumer rights due to their lack of knowledge and information about Korean consumer protection systems.

    On this account, the KCA and the MOJ have stepped up their efforts to enable foreign immigrants to systematically receive consumer education and strengthen their consumer competency so that they can assert their consumer rights themselves.

    Through the MOU, the KCA and the MOJ plan to ▲open consumer education courses for foreign immigrants within the Korea Immigration and Integration Program (KIIP)* operated by the MOJ, and run training programs to nurture instructors specializing in consumer education for foreign immigrants, ▲provide consumer education for foreign immigrants, ▲conduct an investigation & research for the promotion of consumer rights and interests, and ▲implement a variety of cooperative projects to resolve consumer damage.

*  The KIIP refers to a program designed and implemented by the MOJ aiming to support foreign immigrants in acquiring basic knowledge and information (Korean language and culture, Understanding Korean Society) so that they can become self-reliant members of Korean society.

    In particular, in order to provide consumer education tailored to meet the needs of foreign immigrants, some of the KIIP teachers will be selected and trained to be instructors specializing in consumer education for foreign immigrants, and after their training as specialized instructors for consumer education, they will educate foreign immigrants for one year.

    Any foreign immigrants participating in the KIIP operated by the MOJ can receive free consumer education, and the class schedule for 2019 will be announced by 309 KIIP operating institutions nationwide.

    Meanwhile, the KCA has analyzed consumer damage cases frequently occurring in foreign immigrants, and based on the analysis, it has created and distributed education materials that are customized for foreign immigrants who are not fluent in Korean. Going forward, the KCA also plans to create standardized lesson plans for instructors educating foreign immigrants.

    On the day of the MOU signing, Lee Hee-sook, President of the KCA and Kim O-su, Vice Minister of the MOJ said, “We expect that through the MOU, we can build a regular cooperative framework for the promotion of foreign immigrants’rights and interests as consumers, and thus contribute to creating conditions that enable foreign immigrants vulnerable to social marginalization to become self-reliant members of Korean society.”