Actor Jung Woo-sung, a goodwill ambassador of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Unhcr), urged the public to “continue to show support for refugees” at a local press event held at the organization’s building in Jung District, central Seoul, on Wednesday.

The event was held after Jung visited Poland on Oct. 3 to meet the Ukrainian refugees and volunteered at Lublin train station where refugees continue to arrive on train.

According to Unhcr, there are an estimated 6 million Ukrainian refugees since the war between Ukraine and Russia erupted on Feb. 24. Poland, which borders Ukraine, has the largest amount of refugees, with more than 1.4 million people.

“Recently, I heard that the total number of refugees worldwide has surpassed 100 million,” Jung said. “I could not help but to worry over our bleak future. [The visit to Poland] was the time for me to contemplate over how we can resolve this state [of war] and how we should support and band together.”

On his future plans as an ambassador, Jung said he hopes to visit Myanmar.

“I do not want to superficially approach this matter of people struggling amid the war,” he said. “I believe people should strongly voice and act out in solidarity to discuss and deliberate over the difficulties that refugees face.”

Since his appointment as a Unhcr goodwill ambassador in May 2014, Jung has visited refugees in Nepal, South Sudan, Iraq, Bangladesh, Djibouti and Malaysia. The actor has continuously voiced his support for human rights for refugees and displaced people.


BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]