The Korea Times
Park Jong-bae was 14 when he arrived in Korea from the Philippines — the country where he was born to a Korean father and a Filipino mother. Despite his Korean heritage, he struggled with a new language, a new culture and a school system that moved faster than he could follow. After middle school, he entered a general high school but quickly fell behind because of his limited Korean language skills and eventually left the conventional academic track. His turning point came at Korea Polytechnics Dasom High School, an alternative school for students from multicultural background. There, Park received tailored Korean-language support and hands-on technical classes that opened his eyes to the world of engineering. Yet after graduating, Park struggled to find a stable career, moving from one short-term job to another. Hoping to find a professional path aligned with his interests, he enrolled in a vocational training program run by Korea Polytechnics, a public college system under the Ministry of Employment and Labor, for job seekers with multicultural backgrounds like him, specializing in
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