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| Korean miners work at a mine located in Ruhrgebiet, Germany in 1972. Korea Times file |
By Lee Yeon-woo
From 1963 to 1977, a total of 7,938 Korean men jumped on airplanes to Germany hoping to support their families in Korea with foreign currency. Many of them had no prior experience working in mines.
It is a well-known fact that their remittance contributed to Korea's economic growth. During that time, miners and nurses in Germany remitted around $112 million to Korea, according to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
However, Lee You-jae, a professor at the University of Tubingen and the son of a miner who settled down in Germany, said there was more to their contribution than that.
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| Lee You-jae / Screenshot from University of Tubingen's website |
"The important part is their struggles to make a living helped prepare infrastructure for Korean corporates, government institutions, and students seeking opportunities in Germany after the 1980s," Lee said.
He traced the lives of the former miners who settled in Germany after their contracts ended and published his findings in a book titled "Gluck Auf!" (Good luck!). The book was translated into Korean and published here earlier this year.
"One of the former miners who worked at one of the warehouses of LG, when LG was expanding its business to Germany, offered his house as lodging for expatriates from Korea. He even took care of their leisure and travel," the professor told The Korea Times. He even moved into a bigger house to accommodate more people.
"Another miner who ran a hotel at the time offered its rooms to expatriates from Daewoo Motors and Samsung, when both companies also sought business in Germany. Another miner who ran a travel agency felt a responsibility to Korean students who came to Germany, so he searched for a grant which (Germany) offers to students from the Third World," he said.
Miners also formed Korean communities and have built 38 Korean schools across Germany since the 1970s, according to Na Bok-chan, a former miner who went to Germany in 1977. He is also the branch manager of Kyoposhinmun, a weekly newspaper for Koreans living in Germany.
"We, former miners, have huge pride in having contributed to Korea's modernization. That's what made us endure the hard times," Na said.
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| Korean men wave farewell as they board an airplane that is set to transport them to Germany in 1963. Korea Times file |
Indeed, life in Germany was not favorable to them in the early days.
Most miners who decided to remain in Germany suffered financially. As their contracts approached expiry, they realized they lacked the money to start afresh in Korea. Their income had been sent to their families in Korea, but most of it had already been spent.
"I thought I should earn more … The savings weren't enough to make a living in Korea. I need a taxi at least to make money (in Korea). So I thought to myself. 'I should stay longer,'" Lee Moon-sam, who went to Germany in 1965 and currently lives in Bonn, said.
As their contracts were about to expire, the miners started to organize, asking for more opportunities.
At the end of 1979, three years after Korea halted dispatching men to Germany, around 800 miners requested visas, the right to choose jobs and permission to move to other regions. The government refused at first but later accepted the requests about six months after the Gwangju Uprising in 1980.
"The government considered, 'if Korea is that much in difficulties politically and financially, it's not right to return them ― who have suffered three years for Germany's economic development,'" Na said.
The professor also commented that the German government worried "whether forcing miners' return to the 'politically unstable' country could become a political issue."
Despite efforts, their status after they stopped working at the mines can be summed up as "unstable employment," "unemployment" and "early retirement," according to Lee You-jae. Most miners did not receive vocational education, so many of them first headed to the factory for simple labor. Some of them ran small businesses such as supermarkets, inns or travel agencies and managed to bounce back.
The professor said that even though there have been a number of testimonies and research about nurses sent to Germany, the miners' lives have been kept out of the spotlight.
"What I wanted to highlight in this book is they successfully struggled to make a living, and climbed the ladder in Germany … They settled there in those difficult conditions and formed Korean society," Lee You-jae said.
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