GIMPO, 22 July 2015 – The Korea Airports Corporation (KAC) and the Korea Red Cross (KRC) awarded 50 multicultural families of mixed Filipino-Korean heritage free air tickets to visit the Philippines as part of an eight-year-old humanitarian program to foster better appreciation for the home countries of the Filipino parent.

In the departure ceremony for the Beautiful Flight program held at Gimpo International Airport on 20 July 2015, KAC President Kim Seok-ki remarked that the KAC and the KRC had worked closely in organizing this homecoming trip for selected Filipino marriage migrants and their families to the Philippines.

President Kim also expressed hope that this trip would provide an opportunity for the marriage migrants to reconnect with their families and for their Korean spouses and children to gain a wider understanding of the Philippines and its culture.

In a separate speech, KRC Vice President Kim Seon-hyang gave assurances that her organization would continue to exert effort to ensure the successful settlement of multicultural families in Korea.

Representing the Philippine Embassy, First Secretary and Consul General Iric C. Arribas thanked KAC and KRC for sponsoring the program and expressed hope that the homecoming trip would provide an opportunity for families of marriage migrants to appreciate the beauty of Philippines and its culture and for Korean spouses to understand their wives' thinking, family and culture.

Since its inception in 2010, the Multicultural Families Sponsorship Program for Visiting Homelands has been a resounding success in enabling marriage migrants to orient their Korean spouses and children about their home countries and to foster understanding and harmonious relations among members of multicultural families.

To date, 2,375 individuals from 647 multicultural families of such diverse origins as Cambodia, China, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, have been beneficiaries of this homecoming program. At present, there are approximately 760,000 multicultural families in Korea.

– END–