Q1. Please give a brief self-introduction and share your motivation for applying to MAP!
Hello, I am Ko Jin-byeol, a second-half 2025 volunteer at Migration to Asia Peace. I am on the YES Team, which runs empowerment and scholarship programs for refugee youth and young adults. Out of academic interest in social inequality, I majored in political science and international studies at university, and while living abroad I naturally began to take an interest in migration issues. I applied to MAP as I came to feel that treating refugees and migrants as an “issue” is a problem that fundamentally threatens individual freedom and dignity.
Q2. What specifically do you do on your current team?
I am currently in charge of the “Good Samaritan Scholarship” from A to Z, the main program of the YES Team! This covers the scholarship application, the selection process, and, after selection, thinking together about how the refugee young adults who receive the scholarship can nurture their dreams in a better environment. I act as a guide in improving Korean language ability, which is what refugee young adults find most difficult, and I am also in charge of exploring together with them how to acquire the skills and technology they need to achieve their goals, and of finding suitable institutions and supporting their registration.
Q3. What has been the most memorable moment for you so far?
The most memorable moment was the day I took part in Good Samaritan’s House with the Good Samaritan scholarship recipients. During the period in which they receive the scholarship, the recipients regularly volunteer at Good Samaritan’s House, and this time they took part in selling goods made at Good Samaritan’s House. Through this activity I was able to see and experience directly how the scholarship funds are raised and how they lead to help for the recipients, which was very meaningful. It was also the first occasion on which I could meet in person and work together with the recipients with whom I had been communicating online, which made it an even more meaningful day.
Q4. What do you think our society needs most in order to live together with refugees?
I think that, for our society to live together with refugees, concrete measures that start from an open mind must be put in place. What refugees need most to settle stably in Korean society is opportunities in education and employment, and I believe this is possible through support that comes from an open mind. It may be hard to picture when one hears the word “refugee,” but among them there are still young people who want to move toward their dreams. I hope that more programs and opportunities are created so that these refugee young adults can freely pursue their dreams.
Q5. What ‘change’ have you felt while being active at MAP? Or what ‘change’ would you like to make?
Working on the YES Team allowed me to come much closer to the lives of refugee young adults who are nurturing their dreams. Watching the recipients grow, and in the journey of thinking together about the fields they want to study and how to achieve their dreams, I felt that I was being of some small help. Also, watching the recipients adapt to society through MAP, I really felt that applying to MAP was the right decision. As a personal change, because of the nature of the team I often have to call people I am meeting for the first time, so I learned how not to be nervous in such situations. Just as I came to feel that every change starts from a small change, I hope that refugee young adults can realize their dreams and hopes in the future as well.
Q6. How do you think MAP should approach people who find the refugee issue difficult?
Many people find the refugee issue difficult because they perceive it as an “issue.” As MAP has done in many ways until now, I think it is important to reach people through various programs, such as Dialogue with Refugees, through which they can communicate comfortably with citizens.
