hankyoreh

as part of a social entrepreneurial venture to help refugees integrate into South Korean society.

By Kim Kyu-nam, staff reporter

Here’s your chance to taste real African coffee made by African refugees.

Supported by crowdfunding, a cafe in which Africans prepare African coffee will be open near Marronier Park in the Daehakro area of Seoul around the end of September. With “Coffee of Tomorrow” on the signboard, the cafe doubles as a job training site for African refugees who have settled in South Korea.

“For two years, the refugees will receive training in making coffee, speaking Korean, and providing service as they work here. The goal is that their work experience here will allow them to get a job at any cafe,” said Moon Joon-seok, 31, on Sep. 9. Mun is CEO of the cafe as well as a barista there.

Currently, refugees from Ethiopia, Congo, and Cote d’Ivoire have completed the basic barista training and are being interviewed. Moon is planning to hire two of them for now and to increase the number of staff in the future.

For three years, Moon worked as the head of a team of volunteers at his church for refugees. It was during this time that he learned about the prejudice that Koreans have for African refugees. “Unlike the stereotypes, some African refugees are talented at art, and others have master’s degrees from their home countries. I wanted to show not only that they could be baristas but that they could also do more skilled work like baking bread and design,” Moon said.

The plan for refugees to take part in Coffee of Tomorrow began to take shape when the project was selected for the social entrepreneur training program run by the Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency. The plan also took first prize in the Wiki Seoul, a social economy idea competition organized by the city of Seoul.

“Our goal is not the bitterness that most people associate with coffee, but rather to bring out the original flavor of each of the beans by gently roasting high-quality African beans. We want to present our customers not with bitter coffee but with sweet, tangy, and delicious coffee,” Moon said. The cafe; is also running a crowdfunding project with the goal of raising 9 million won (US$8,703) in funds to open and run the business.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]