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Annabelle Castro: Korea's First Naturalized Police Officer from the Philippines 

Annabelle Castro

Korea’s police officers are currently even busier than usual due to the added responsibility of upholding COVID-19-related security and quarantine measures. One of them is Annabelle Castro, who is originally from the Philippines. Her first assignment as a police officer was in 2008 in Ansan, a city that is known as the “village without borders” for its large foreign population. During her more than 10 years with the police, Castro, who is now a sergeant, has offered assistance to countless Korean and foreign citizens. For the September issue, we met with Sergeant Castro, a dependable member of the Korean National Police Agency who not only guarantees the safety of Ansan residents but also helps multicultural families with the problems they face on a regular basis related to language and everyday as well as livelihood issues.

Q. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sergeant Castro. Could you please start by introducing yourself to the readers of ACH Monthly?

Hello! My name is Annabelle Castro, and I am a police officer of the Republic of Korea. Twenty-three years ago, I left the Philippines, my native country, and arrived in a quiet village in Hampyeong County, South Jeolla Province. I always dreamed of a happy, close-knit family, which I gained after marrying my Korean husband and becoming the mother of three children.

Q. What made you want to be a police officer in Korea? Also, what are the actual strategies that helped you achieve this goal?

Ever since I arrived in Korea, I studied Korean on my own. At the time, I studied the language not to become a police officer but simply in order to adjust as quickly as possible to life in Korea. I memorized my Korean textbooks whole and read a lot of picture books, which are written in easy and intuitive sentences. Thankfully, I soon became proficient enough to volunteer as a Korean language teacher for foreign women. I also helped the Hampyeong Police Station for a while as an interpreter. One day, a sergeant I got to know while volunteering as an interpreter suggested that I try taking the police exam. I immediately thought to myself that if I became a police officer, I could at last be of some help to foreigners who are starting their lives in Korea and face problems related to linguistic and cultural differences. I then began studying—very hard!—for the police exam. I don’t have any special tips, actually. (laughs) What I had in my favor was the time I spent studying the Korean language and doing volunteer work for the community, and refusing to let go of a good opportunity that I happened to find while doing these things.

Q. You are Korea’s first naturalized police officer. How did your family in the Philippines react when they heard that you joined the Korean police?

To be perfectly honest, when I told them I am now a police officer, my family’s first reaction was concern. They were not pleased, mostly because they were worried that I would have a hard time. I was also worried, because I would be leading a life quite different from my days as a biology teacher in the Philippines. Eventually, I made up my mind to take full responsibility for my decisions—just as I did when I left the Philippines to live abroad for the first time. After becoming a police officer, I resolved to carry out my responsibilities by doing my personal best. My family in the Philippines is now no longer worried. They are very encouraging about my career.

Q. Is there an “episode” or incident that happened during your time in law enforcement that is especially memorable?

There are so many incidents that have stayed with me. If I were to choose one, it would be how we found some preschool-aged children who went to the Philippines. The Gyeonggi Province Office of Education sent us a request to find the current whereabouts of some children who were of school age and supposed to be attending elementary schools in Ansan but were not coming to school. We later found out that the children had been taken by their mothers (marriage migrants) to the Philippines and therefore were no longer in the country. It was not easy for the officers in charge of the case to find the children in the Philippines: my job was to serve as an interpreter for the responsible officers and help them find them. There are a lot of islands that make up the Philippines. There are also many different languages spoken in each region, which makes it difficult to find people even if you’re in the Philippines! After we finished finding all of the children, the police officers were very grateful to me. For my part, I was glad to have been of help.

Q. In your opinion, are the police in Korea very different from their counterparts in the Philippines?

If you take a close look at how work is done and the scope of the responsibilities of police in Korea and the Philippines, it’s easy to see that there are many differences. But I believe that there is one point that police officers in all countries have in common that far exceeds these differences—their identity as people who uphold the law of their country. Police officers are committed to protecting the laws of their countries in accordance with the country’s culture, customs and social norms.

Q. Has your family in the Philippines ever visited Korea?

Last year, my parents and sister brought my nieces and nephews, who love K-pop, to Korea. We were enjoying a dish made with puffer fish, and I remember that my mother was absolutely fascinated with and delighted by the fact that she could safely eat puffer fish in Korea, which is usually avoided in the Philippines because of its poison. Oh, I almost forgot! While in Korea, my nieces and nephews became loyal fans of Korean-style fried chicken.

Q. What is the scope of your current responsibilities at the police station?

I worked for a few years at the Multicultural Zone Police Security, which is affiliated with the Wongok Multicultural Police Station, and was then transferred in early February to Ansan Danwon Police Station (Seon Bu 2). Since I started working at a police station, I’ve been doing the same tasks that regular district police officers do. I’m happy to be working with a great patrol team to keep the residents of Ansan safe.

Q. When performing your duties as an officer of the law, there must definitely be some difficult moments. Do you have a “secret” for overcoming such difficulties?

My favorite proverbial saying is, “Every cloud has a silver lining.” It means that even in the worst possible situation, there’s always at least one good thing. I like to keep my thoughts positive and optimistic, especially when I’m in a difficult situation.

Q. We think that you, along with the rest of the police force, are probably even busier than usual because of COVID-19. Is there anything that is different now, work-wise?

I am working in base shifts with my colleagues so that we are ready to respond at any time to unexpected situations that may happen at COVID-19 isolation facilities. I also try to pay a lot of attention to personal quarantine measures. Most citizens who visit a government office to file a civil petition come wearing a mask.  But this is sadly not the case for the people I meet at scenes of disturbances. To be prepared for any and all situations, everyone at the police station where I work wears a KF 94-grade mask all day.

Q. What is your ultimate goal as a police officer?

To retire healthy!

Q. You once said in an interview that you “feel energized by the thought that I am helping multicultural families” and obviously are passionate about multicultural families in Korea. Is there any activity for multicultural families that you are currently doing or hope to do in the future?

Even now, I offer phone consultations for any multicultural family that needs my help. One idea I have is to travel all over Korea to conduct family violence prevention classes for multicultural families.

Q. There are many people from the Philippines and other ASEAN countries who live in Korea or other countries that are not their places of birth. Do you have any final words of advice for them?

It’s not easy to live abroad. It involves a lot of hardships that are difficult to understand for people who’ve never lived abroad. Regardless of where you are, however, you can have a more satisfying experience if you are able to communicate with locals in their language. Don’t be afraid to communicate with people who are different from you. If you can forge relationships with others, find ways to understand one another, and engage in cultural exchanges. It can create positive outcomes for everyone.