https://www.npr.org/2023/05/24/ [login to see] /south-korea-mosque-muslim-students-tensions
On the right side of a narrow alleyway, a new mosque is under construction. On the left stands a tall display fridge with three pig heads inside, a resounding statement of opposition to the project.
The otherwise quiet alley in the city of Daegu is the front line of a three-year-long dispute between Muslim students of Kyungpook National University and residents in the neighborhood just outside the campus.
These tensions are proving to be a test of the nation's tolerance of increasing diversity, at a time when South Korea's leaders are looking to immigration to bolster the country's aging and shrinking workforce.
The Muslim community at KNU mostly consists of students from Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and other countries with large Muslim populations. Its size fluctuates between 80 and 150 people, according to a community representative. The university's total student body is almost 27,000.