SOS Children in South Korea

The Republic of South Korea was established in 1948 following partition of the Korean peninsula after World War II by the United States in the south and the USSR in the north.

Conflicts and strained relations between the USA and the USSR in the early 1950s led to the Korean War which devastated the whole country. Even with foreign aid, the Korean government was unable to rebuild the country let alone provide care for the thousands of children who had been orphaned and were living on the streets.

The SOS Children's Village Seoul was built in 1982, on the western edge of the capital, Seoul, a city of almost 10 million people. The 15 family houses are home to 140 children and their SOS mothers. There is also a youth house for 30 boys. An SOS Social Centre provides child-care for local working families as well as a youth club for older children.

We opened our third Korean community in 1982 in Suncheon, which is approximately 200 km from Daegu. It has ten family houses and an SOS Youth Home which together are home to over 125 children and young people. An SOS Vocational Training Centre in Pohang, completed in 1991, provides training for potential SOS mothers as well as in-service training for established SOS staff.