Is South Korea a Refugee-Friendly Country? Refugee Protection in Korea: Examination of the Refugee Act of 2013 and Its Practice = Is South Korea a Refugee-Friendly Country? Refugee Protection in Korea: Examination of the Refugee Act of 2013 and Its Practice

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this article is to take a closer look at the refugee situation in Korea by examining the Refugee Act of 2013 and its practice. Korea has been obligated to protect refugees under the international treaty, the 1951 Refugee Convention and its protocol. In 2012, South Korea adopted the Refugee Act at the national level, which it enforced in 2013(Refugee Act 2013). By adopting the Refugee Act 2013, Korea enables Refugee Status Applicants to easily go through the refugee application procedure and make it easy for refugee applicants to go through judicial proceedings as well. Further, South Korea is the first country in Asia to adopt a separate Refugee Act. South Korea`s role becomes important in regards to solving the refugee situation, especially among Asian Countries. South Korea may get a good score on its procedural guarantee for refugees. Although, when we look deeper into the inside, South Korea cannot be called a refugee-friendly country. Substantive guarantee of rights under the Refugee Act 2013 is not ensured yet and the refugee acceptance rate of South Korea is way lower than that of the world average. Korea is not a refugee friendly country. Together with the efforts to prepare the Refugee Act 2013, the efforts toward substantive guarantee of rights under the Refugee Act should be done. Korea should make more effort to promote and protect refugee`s rights and their lives.