1. On June 27, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a safety meeting with delegates from Korean missionary groups that dispatch missionaries to foreign countries. Ambassador for Overseas Koreans and Consular Affairs Han Dong-man presided over the meeting on ways to better protect Korean missionaries overseas.

2. Ambassador Han said that Korean missionaries are being exposed to potential danger amid increasing cases this year where Koreans working in China, Pakistan and other countries have been investigated by local authorities on allegations of violating local laws, as well as a growing possibility of terrorist attacks targeting missionaries before or after June 29, which is ISIS’s third anniversary of declaring itself a state. Given the situation, Ambassador Han stressed that it is more important than ever for missionaries to take heed to their own safety for themselves to carry out missionary work safely, and asked them to take the following actions.

o Respecting local laws and customs in host countries during missionary activities

o Setting up the system to respond to emergency situations, including the establishment of emergency contact networks with the ROK’s diplomatic missions in their host countries

o Providing short-term missionaries to be dispatched overseas with sufficient education on safety rules, as well as laws related to missionary work and customs of local communities in their host countries

o Checking information on safe overseas travel provided by the Foreign Ministry, when devising plans for overseas missionary work, and if they have to visit a dangerous area, informing the ROK’s diplomatic mission in the area of their contact number and period of sojourn in advance so that the diplomatic mission can provide support in a swift manner in case of an emergency

3. The Foreign Ministry has made a range of efforts to disseminate safety rules regarding missionary activities through various on- and off-line media, including sending text messages on country-specific safety information to roaming phones; advertising through subway and outdoor billboards; broadcasting information on safe overseas travel on YTN; operating college student supporters for safe overseas travel; and posting notices on the Foreign Ministry’s website (http://www.0404.go.kr) and SNS (https://www.facebook.com/4ursafetravel) on safe overseas travel. The Foreign Ministry is also strengthening readiness, including by establishing emergency contact networks between missionaries and the ROK’s diplomatic missions overseas, in order to better protect Korean missionaries working in dangerous regions.


* unofficial translation