The UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie went to Seoul and had a meeting with the organization's celebrity goodwill ambassador as well as the justice minister last Sunday. Jolie, who is also an activist, expressed her deep concern regarding Yemenis who left their country due to long-standing war and cholera epidemic.
According to Korea Times, Jolie went to Korea on November 2 along with her kids, Pax and Maddox. The actress caused a public stir as she arrived without security guards at the Yonsei University and tourism hotspots in Samcheong-dong and Insa-dong in Jongno-gu. Justice Minister Park Sang-ki and actor Jung Woo-sung, Korea's UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador since 2015, joined Jolie in the meeting.
During the meeting, the actress noted 500 Yemenis sought asylum and arrived on Jeju Island back in May, saying Korea has a role in helping them. While at the UNHCR Korea's office in Jung-gu, Seoul, Jolie stressed there is a shameful slow act in ending the crisis in Yemen.
The situation is now deteriorating and the country is facing the brink of a man-made famine, as well as the worst cholera epidemic in the world over the past decades. The actress said the only way to help Yemeni refugees going back to their home and reduce their numbers around the world is to end the conflicts themselves.
Jolie visited Korea to promote the message of the international organization where global support is essentially needed to for refugees. The actress thanked the Korean government for helping the Yemeni refugees arrived on Jeju Island. She also delivered the wish of UNHCR wherein they need to work closely with the Korean authorities to strengthen the asylum system.
Moreover, Jolie expressed the gratitude of the organization towards the South Korean citizens because some 230,000 individuals from the private sector donated millions of dollars. The actress said this act only demonstrated that South Koreans have a strong sense of solidarity with the UNHCR as well as the refugees.
When Jolie talked to Jung, she expressed her deep concern as there are some Koreans showing enmity to Yemenis living in Jeju Island. But, the actor quickly responded to this, saying that it was only stemmed from fake news and in fact not the majority of the public that were against Yemeni refugees. In June, Jung met with the refugees and participated 2018 Jeju Forum as a speaker. Both Jolie and Jung talked about the places they have already visited and how they met the amazing staff members of UNHCR.
