Today, the South Korean government recommenced their visa operations in RP to those who wished to work in their country. Jae Jang, president of the Korean Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, revealed that the suspension has been lifted after top Korean officials and the Bureau of Immigration's meeting yesterday afternoon.

The issuance of visas was suspended earlier in the midst of accusations that immigration officials were harassing and extorting money from Korean nationals in Manila.

Bureau of Immigration Associate Commissioner Roy Almoro said that the immigration agency is not singling out the Koreans in its campaign against undocumented aliens. Extortion is not tolerated in the agency and will hunt down bureau officials that is involved in such schemes. He also advised Koreans that were supposedly victimized to come forward and file complaints in order to hasten the investigation.

Jae Jang said that the victims were forced to shell out P50,000 to P100,000 because they didn’t want to go to jail. The victims were also afraid to come out in the open for fear of retaliation. Jang also noted that BI’s intelligence agents were carrying firearms when demanding money.

Almoro explained that due to the nature of their work, immigration agents are allowed to carry firearms but are not allowed to use the firearms indiscriminately.

Koreans are among the largest number of foreigners living in the Philippines. Hundreds of thousands of Korean tourists flock to the country each year. Along with the increase of Koreans in our country, the number of Filipinos who applied work in South Korea also increased after its government opened the labor market to foreigners.