Anabelle Castro: First Filipina Policewoman in South Korea

Anabelle Castro, a native of Pangasinan, became the second naturalized Korean citizen to join the ranks of South Korean police officers in what some local media outlets reported as an indication of South Korea's greater openness towards foreigners.
Anabelle made me realize two things: that it's possible for a non-Korean born Korean to work for the government and that her age (41) didn't matter when she entered the police force. Anabel Castro was born in the Philippines in 1968 in San Carlos, Pangasinan. She married her Korean husband in 1997 and has three kids with him, two sons and a daughter. She entered National Central Police Academy and graduated on July 25, 2008.

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.

In the Philippines, Castro was a biology teacher.

"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."

Early in her marriage, she left home for three days due to conflict with her mother-in-law. "

More than a million foreigners now live in South Korea, a trend that is expected to increase over the years. To improve its service, the National Police Agency actively encourages applications from individuals who can communicate in other languages such as Filipino, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Arabic and Mongolian.

Of the million, 50,000 are Filipinos, among them professionals, students, spouses of Korean nationals, workers and missionaries. Earlier this year, another Filipina, Judith Hernandez, became the focus of media attention for being the first foreign-born citizen to run for the National Assembly.

Said Castro of the rigorous training program to become a police officer: "I just kept on going. Mahirap pero bakit ako mag gi-give up? (It was difficult but why should I give up?)"

Source: Buhaykorea , Globalnation , Chosun