The local head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) has thanked the South Korean government for its “active efforts” to accommodate refugees from other countries. 

In a press conference in Seoul on Monday, James Lynch, head of the UNHCR's Seoul Office, called South Korea a refugee-friendly country, saying the government, businesses and the public are all seeking to help and support refugees. 

Lynch said that South Korea is practically the only country in the world that has never blocked the entry of refugees in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

He also praised an increasingly positive perception of refugees among South Koreans, pointing to a UNHCR survey last month in which 33 percent of around one-thousand South Koreans said they support the settlement of refugees in the South. It was nine percentage points higher than a similar survey conducted in 2018, when concerns spiked over hundreds of Yemeni refugees seeking to settle in Jeju. 

According to the UNHCR, South Koreans donated over 47 million U.S. dollars last year to help refugees.