The Museum of Korea Emigration History on Friday announced that it is asking Korean emigrants in South America to donate historic items for a special exhibition to be held in early July.

“It has been 60 years since Korea officially began emigrating to Brazil in 1961. The first immigrants, who were adults at the time, are now in their 80s and 90s, and many of them have already passed away. Before it‘s too late, we would like to exhibit the history of early emigrants,” The Museum of Korea Emigration History Director Kim Sang-nyeol said in a statement. “However, due to the unique circumstances of emigration history, we lack materials to exhibit in Korea, so we need help from the Korean emigration community.”

As of December 2018, there were 95,831 Korean emigrants living in the 21 countries and territories of South America and Central America.

According to the museum, it needs items like passports, relics and photographs. “We also need newspapers and publications,” an official from the museum added.

The museum said it will first mainly collect items from three countries –Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay — and then start collecting from other parts of the region.

The museum is located in Incheon. Anyone who would like to donate items can call (032) 440-4707 or email kdk0616@korea.kr for more details.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)