They have been residing in “Koryoin Village” in Gwangju, the sixth-largest city in South Korea. “Koryoin” refers to descendants of Koreans who migrated to former Soviet states during the period of the Joseon dynasty and Japan’s imperial rule in Korea.
Ethnic Koreans in Ukraine are seen in this file image. Ethnic Korean refugees who fled from war-torn Ukraine to South Korea face a threat of deportation after the government refused to extend their visas. (Photo: https://ukrainer.net)
An estimated 500,000 Koryoins are settled in former Soviet states including Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. Lee Chun-Yeong, a pastor at Gwangju Koryoin Village Church, said the government should not forget that it has promised to support Ukrainian refugees until the situation stabilizes in Ukraine.
South Korean government issued refugees a travel permit and a short-term 90-day visa which was later upgraded to a refugee visa with a validity of six months, which expires in April. If their visas are not extended further refugees might be deported to Ukraine.
The president of Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing legislative council has accused the UK-based Commonwealth Parliamentary Association of “blatant political bias” after it revoked the invites issued to the city’s lawmakers for a global seminar.
Andrew Leung stated that the move was an attempt to “derogate and sideline Hong Kong.” Leung’s remarks came after the parliamentary association last week withdrew the invites issued to Hong Kong lawmakers citing “the deteriorating situation” in the territory. The 70th Westminster Seminar on Effective Parliaments is scheduled to be held from March 14 to 18, 2023, in London.
Delegates join a session during the 68th Westminster Seminar on Effective Parliaments in London, UK, in 2019. (Photo: Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, UK)
The annual seminar draws lawmakers from 180 legislatures from Commonwealth territories around the world. A former British colony, Hong Kong has seen its basic freedoms and autonomy erode significantly as Beijing tightens its grip.
Chinese regime imposed electoral reforms to make the city’s legislature a rubber stamp by allowing only “patriots.” The pro-Beijing regime passed repressive national security law in 2020 to snuff out all forms of dissent.
A group of Catholics in Japan have launched an initiative to produce videos to showcase the traditional rites and rituals of Christians who endured persecution for centuries. The move comes as the centuries old practices face extinction due to declining followers and modernization.
The recordings will feature baptisms, Easter, and other rites in a traditional format as were followed by “hidden Christians” or Kakure Kirishitans who were persecuted in the 17th to 19th centuries and until the last few decades.
Christians pray for victims during a mass to mark the anniversary of the atomic bombing at the Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki, western Japan, on Aug. 9, 2017. (Photo: Jiji Press/ AFP)
Seventy six-year-old Kazutoshi Kakimori,a descendant of Kakure Kirishitans has teamed up with Catholic priests to use videos to show future generations how the rites and rituals were practiced by the hidden Christians.
The Kakure Kirishitan rites are no longer practiced and face a threat of extinction as the elders who still know about them are dying. Today, the descendants of Kakure Kirishitans are concentrated mostly on Naru Island of Nagasaki. Their population has reportedly dropped from 9,000 in 1960 to only 1,900 at present.
A Catholic diocese in Vietnam celebrated a special requiem Mass and burial for 700 aborted fetuses last Sunday. Catholics in the Xuan Loc diocese in the southwest of Vietnam who participated in the ceremony dedicated themselves to raising awareness of human dignity in a country where students lead the pack in seeking abortions.
Hundreds of pro-life volunteers attended the program and buried the fetuses in the church cemetery which is home to over 62,000 unborn babies.
Fathers Joseph Nguyen Van Tich (left) and Vincent Nguyen Minh Tien bless dead fetuses at Bac Hai Church before burying them on Jan. 29. (Photo: giaophanxuanloc.net)
Before the burial, the dead fetuses were cleaned with alcohol, wrapped in white cloth, given names, decorated with flowers, and placed in the church for people to pray for.
Vietnam has a population of 99.4 million and it records 300,000 terminations per year, mainly among girls aged 15-19, nearly 70 percent of them, students. Pro-life volunteers collect 700-1,500 dead fetuses, including stillbirths each month.
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