Why South Korea sent thousands of workers to Germany (opens in new tab)

In the 1960s and 70s, South Korea struck a deal with West Germany: In exchange for badly needed loans after the Korean War, thousands of South Koreans were sent there to work as miners and nurses\. The men worked in dangerous coal mines\. The women took exhausting shifts in understaffed hospitals\. Many sent most of their wages home, helping power South Korea’s rise from poverty into an economic powerhouse\. Now in their 70s, some say the country they helped build has forgotten them\. CNA Cor...