Appeal
Koreans living in Japan, who have left a remarkable message in the modern and current history of East Asia, have a strenuous history of more than a century.
After the Second World War, we, Koreans in Japan, have handed our national culture down to the coming generations even in a foreign land. To keep our Korean identity, we started Korean education on our own, and have paid special attention to its development. Now we have more than 70 Korean schools throughout Japan.
The educational work of Koreans in Japan is in accordance with the spirit of the international declaration and convention on human rights, and Koreans in many parts of the world respect Korean education in Japan as “the treasure of our nation.” Nowadays, there are various ways for Korean students in Japan to study not only at Korean schools but also at other schools such as Japanese universities and graduate schools.
In recent years, however, Korean students in Japan have been faced with many difficulties in their education, which have caused the need for external financial support of them.
This is because, owing to the division of Korea and the relationship with the government of Japanese, some Korean students are still completely excluded from the scholarship systems such as Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) and The Korean Scholarship Foundation.
Moreover, the government of Japan has excluded only Korean high school students from their policy of high schools tuition-free that began in the last school year for diplomatic reasons. As a result, the students cannot enjoy a legitimate right to learn, which in turn add the economic burden to their families.
Furthermore, the Great East Japan Earthquake and following accidents at the nuclear power plants not only brought tremendous catastrophe to people in Japan, but also destroyed the educational environment for many children. It is estimated that a long period of time and a huge amount of money will be required for recovery from the disaster.
Deeply concerned about the situation of Korean students who are excluded from several scholarship and assistant programs, social opinion is surging forth towards supporting them. In addition, from the standpoint of giving aid to disaster victims, we came to establish this foundation to help Korean students in Japan though our help to each student cannot be so much.
We have obtained broad support from people in every walk of life, especially Japanese teachers who are concerned with the education of Korean students in Japan. Reflecting their various opinions, we are going to run the foundation actively and properly for Korean students.
We would appreciate if you could give us support regardless of idea, belief, nationality so that we can financially help the promising students with their attending schools and studying, for they will be the future power to improve the status of Koreans in Japan and develop international exchange.
May 2012
PAK Yong Ung,
Representative Director
The Foundation for Korean Students in Japan (FKSJ)