The Korean Ministry of Data and Statistics reported last July that the number of multicultural households in South Korea, specifically households including naturalized citizens, marriage immigrants, or their children, has grown by 2.8% from 2024 to 2025, reaching about 450,000. Over the same period the national population grew by 0.02%, to 51.82 million. Their growing presence is palpable particularly in multicultural cities like Ansan. In a time when Chinese signs are more visible on buildings and Russian is heard more often on the streets, the efforts of civic groups to help immigrants adapt as full members of society without conflict with local residents are becoming increasingly important for Ansan. To investigate this, we interviewed the Immigrant Citizens' Solidarity Social Co-operative, a civic group that has assisted immigrants in Ansan since 2018.

The predecessor of the organization was Chatty Small Multicultural Library (재잘재잘 작은 다문화도서관), a small multilingual library in Ansan offering books in Korean, English, and Russian. Not long after its foundation in 2013, the library gained a reputation as a practical childcare center for immigrant families in Ansan, who favored its accessibility and welcoming atmosphere. The library soon became a robust community hub for newly settling immigrants, especially Russian speakers, as well as their associates, ranging from sports team coaches to immigration agents. Soon, this caught the attention of former UN inspector Hyuksoo Choi, who had grown increasingly aware of immigrant issues while serving in the Salvation Army Multicultural Center. He recognized the library's potential as a foundation for an official civil organization and reached out to its associates. Eventually in 2018, these individuals, under Choi's lead, founded the Immigrant Citizens' Solidarity Social Co-operative.

The main educational businesses include not only child daycare but also alternative education, known as ZION Intercultural Alternative Education Center. However, though labelled 'alternative education,' its philosophy is preparation rather than replacement, according to human resource manager Eunkyung Kang. Kang explains that most students migrated to Korea at a relatively older age, usually around third or fourth grade, which leaves them too far behind their peers in Korean skills to enter public schools. "Our goal is not to replace Korean public schools, but rather to prepare kids for them," she says. Under this principle, the center teaches staple school courses by integrating native languages with Korean, while also preparing students for TOPIK and the Korean GED (검정고시), equipping them with both the formal and practical requirements to enter Korean public schools.

The co-operative also helps parents through its job placement office. Kang explains that immigrant workers often struggle to settle economically due to a lack of agencies that provide proper education in labor laws or workplace safety, leaving them vulnerable to abusive working conditions. In response, the office collaborates with local police on labor abuse and quarantine, and refers individuals—especially marginalized demographics including refugees and marriage immigrants—directly to safe workplaces run by the organization or other safe employers. For instance, in 2021, the office inducted an Ivorian refugee to a paper tube factory in the Banwol Industrial Complex upon referral from the Gyeonggi West Business Association. The office also handles administrative problems: "People come to us with a visa about to expire, an immigration appointment they can't book, or even a hospital they don't know how to call," Kang says. It has become a practical help desk for the daily troubles that stem from language and paperwork barriers.

Ultimately, the co-operative sees its mission simply as a buffer that prevents immigrants from being forced into a foreign society without proper adaptation. Accordingly, as she ended the interview, Kang stated that "In a community as diverse as Ansan, that buffer has become indispensable."

틔움기자단 Ryan Jason Kelleher 크리에이터 |