Koryoin restaurant owner receives immigrant award

Jeon Olga, a restaurant owner in the “Koryoin Village”neighborhood of the southwestern city of Gwangju, will be honored with the Prime Minister’s Commendation, recognized for her yearslong dedication to supporting fellow ethnic Koreans from former Soviet Union states as they adapt to Korean society.

Jeon, 36, who owns a restaurant serving Russian and Central Asian dishes in Gwangsan District, has been making numerous donations to help Koryoin immigrants settle there, according to the “Korean Cooperative,” a support center for Koryoin residents in Gwangju.

“Koryoin” refers to approximately 500,000 ethnic Koreans who reside in the post-Soviet states, including descendants of those who immigrated to Russia in the 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as of those who were forcibly deported from the Russian Far East to Central Asia by former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in the late 1930s.

Jeon, who came to Korea in 2011, settled in Wolgok-dong, Gwangju, where she and her family opened their restaurant, “Koryoin Family Restaurant &Cafe,” in 2013. Also known as “Koryoin Village,” the neighborhood is home to about 7,000 Koryoin who emigrated from Russia and post-Soviet Union countries such as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan

and Ukraine.

Throughout the last decade, Jeon and her family have made numerous charitable donations that were used to provide medical services, rent for housing and Korean language classes for Koryoin residents.

She made a lump-sum donation of 10 million won ($7850) on March 10 to help ethnic Koreans in Ukraine enter Korea, after they were evacuated from their war-torn homeland. Through a fundraising campaign launched by the Korean Cooperative, a total of 321 ethnic Koreans of Ukrainian nationality have arrived in Korea as of May 19.

“I think that this award is presented not only to me, but to every Koryoin who is working hard here, the homeland of our ancestors. We will continue to help each other out in our daily lives,” she was quoted as saying by the support center.