'I've been told South Korea's not the country for my belief,' says a Korean Muslim

Synopsis: The Invisible Asia Podcast is a special edition 9-episode series in which The Straits Times casts the spotlight on people and communities living in the shadows of their societies where they exist largely unseen and unheard of.

The Straits Times' South Korea correspondent Chang May Choon closes our series as she casts the spotlight on the South Korean Muslim minority. As many as 3,000 South Koreans convert to Islam each year, according to the Korea Muslim Federation.

But a lack of understanding of Islam among the country’s general populace, contributes to the daily difficulties that they face for their belief.

In this podcast, listen to translated testimonies from South Korean Muslim converts Song Bo-ra, Lee Seul and Yu Hong-jong. Our series' narrator is Tan Jia Ning.

1. How Bo-ra counters misconceptions about the way the hijab is viewed (2:01)
2. Lee Seul still uneasy in public after her own conversion to Islam (4:33)

3. South Korean government working to change its people's mindsets about Islam as Muslim tourist numbers rose pre-Covid (5:51)

4. Hong-jong on the difference between the way Christians and Muslims are viewed in South Korea (8:14)

5. Booming demand for halal Korean food from Muslim students, workers and tourists (9:28)
6. Lee Seul and Song Bo-ra helping to make South Korea a more Muslim-friendly country (11:20)

Read the full story by Chang May Choon: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/many-koreans-have-big-misunderstandings-about-islam

Produced by: Magdalene Fung, Tan Jia Ning, Adam Azlee, Fa'izah Sani, Penelope Lee & Ernest Luis

Edited by: Adam Azlee

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