International Food Restaurant Opens to Support International Brides

As the economy has worsened, it has been very difficult to find jobs especially for the elderly, handicapped, and women. In particular, international brides, unfamiliar to Korean culture and language, face great barriers.

Gumi Making Dreams Come True (Ven. Jino spokesperson) is an organization established in 2000 to help migrant workers and international brides. In order to help international brides assimilate and advance in Korean society through the workplace, this organization has established an Asian food restaurant called Jukhyang. This restaurant (10 square meters+) located in the food court of the shopping complex at the Gumi City Station, will employ international brides to prepare food from their countries of origin. Seven women from Vietnam, Philippines, Japan, Mongolia, and Korea were trained twice a week during the month of February at the Geumho Community Social Welfare Center to prepare for the opening of the restaurant. The women will personally cook, serve, and operate the restaurant. They intend to expand the menu after the opening, which is on April 10.

The profits from the restaurant will go to a fund to help international brides. The opening of this restaurant wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of the shopping complex management (Lee Ho, representative), which paid 60 million won for the deposit and the interior renovation.

International bride from Japan, Yukiko (age 45) said, “I have great hope that working at Jukhyang Restaurant will be a first step in assimilating into Korean society. I’m very grateful to all the people who have prepared this.” International bride from Mongolia, Batenulijing (age 39) said, “For my family on New Year’s Day, I made Vietnamese food, which I learned from the training. I was so happy to see everyone enjoy the food.”

Making Dreams Come True’s spokesperson Ven. Jino said, “With big help from the shopping complex, international brides have found a place in our society by securing a job in which they can use their talents. I hope the Buddhist community will support the restaurant as well as develop diverse programs for international brides, and our organization will do our utmost to actively assist.”