"We Went As Collateral”: South Korea’s Pioneer Workers Left Behind In Germany (opens in new tab)

In the 1960s and 1970s, South Korea sent thousands of miners and nurses to West Germany\. They were not just workers, but a form of “human collateral” for foreign loans that were badly needed after the Korean War\. Many spent decades underground in coal mines or working long shifts in hospitals, sending nearly all their wages back home\. But while their sacrifices helped fuel the country’s rise into an economic powerhouse, these workers - now in their 70s – feel they have been forgotten\. Som...