Anabel Castro

Anabel Castro is a police officer who is especially popular at the Wongok Special Public Security Center for Foreigners in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, a region with a huge foreign population. The 41-year-old started working there when she graduated from the National Central Police Academy in July last year. News of "Anabel from the Philippines" becoming a police officer spread quickly among migrant women, and even some people living in Seoul come all the way to Ansan with their complaints.

In the Philippines, Castro was a biology teacher, but she came to Korea in 1997 after meeting her husband (47) through a friend. She settled in Hampyeong, South Jeolla Province. She had two sons and a daughter and helped out on her husband's farm growing vegetables. But because she had a professional career back in the Philippines, she still had a strong desire to get a job here. At first she taught English at her children's school, and helped out at a police station in Hampyeong as an interpreter whenever the need arose. Soon a police officer took notice of her ability and suggested she become a police officer herself, telling her that the police was recruiting officers who can speak foreign languages. Her husband was very supportive of the idea, so she applied, and, as a naturalized Korean, was hired.

"As a migrant woman, I am very proud that I became a police officer who is treated as the same as Koreans. It's also very fulfilling because I can help fellow migrant women in Korea," she said. Because she also went through some of the difficulties that many migrant women experience living in Korea, she is a good role model for many such women.

Early in her marriage, she left home for three days due to conflict with her mother-in-law. "The fact that my children are proud of their mom really is a huge encouragement. Normally, most mothers in multicultural families stay at home, have no idea what's going on outside of home, and are not fluent in Korean. Naturally, kids look down on their mothers as they grow up. But when they see their mom recognized outside the home, they come to respect her and the relationship within the family becomes smoother."