Korean media: In the first half of the year, the South Korean government received 2464 applications for refugee status from Russians | refugees | the South Korean government
On July 29th local time, the South Korean Ministry of Justice released a monthly report showing that the number of refugee status applications submitted by Russians to the South Korean government in the first half of this year has doubled compared to the whole of last year.
According to Yonhap News Agency, statistics show that from January to June this year, the South Korean government received a total of 8348 applications for refugee status, with the highest number of applications from Russian nationals being 2464, accounting for 29.5%. Last year, there were 1038 applications for refugee status from Russian nationals, and in the first half of this year alone, the number of applications from Russians exceeded that of the entire year last year.
According to Yonhap News Agency, in terms of the reasons for applying for refugee status, "political differences" are the most common, followed by "religious reasons", "belonging to a specific social group", "family reunification", and "racial discrimination". According to the analysis, due to the long-term continuation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, most Russians may not be willing to be called up for military service, so they apply for refugee status in South Korea.
According to the monthly statistical report, 3347 applications have completed the review process this year, of which 43 have been approved, with a approval rate of only 1.3%. In addition, as of June, the number of foreign nationals illegally detained in South Korea was approximately 426000, an increase of 7.9% year-on-year.