Mongolians in South Korea
Encyclopedia
Mongols in South Korea form the world's largest population of Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...

n citizens abroad.

Population

By 2003, there were already 20,000 Mongols working in South Korea, making their population larger than the combined total of Mongolian American
Mongolian American
Mongolian Americans are immigrants from Mongolia to the United States and their descendants. The term Mongol American is also used to include ethnic Mongol immigrants from groups outside of Mongolia as well, such as Kalmyks, Buryats, and people from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region of China...

s, Mongolians in Japan
Mongolians in Japan
There is a small community of Mongols in Japan, representing a minor portion of emigration from Mongolia. , there were 4,753 registered foreigners of Mongol nationality residing in Japan, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, up from 2,545 in 2003....

, and Mongolians in Europe. By five years later, their population had grown by 65% to an estimated 33,000 individuals, or 1.2% of the entire Mongol population. The government of South Korea estimates that one out of every two urban households in Mongolia have a family member working in South Korea. According to South Korean government figures, 40% are residing in the country illegally
Illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...

; other estimates of the proportion of illegal migrants run as high as 70%. The growth of the population has been so rapid that the Mongolian embassy in Seoul is largely unable to provide assistance to Mongol residents; as a result, Mongols have set up their own non-governmental organisations to provide mutual assistance, such as Dalain Salkhi ("Sea Breeze").

Motivations for migration

Most Mongols in South Korea are migrant worker
Migrant worker
The term migrant worker has different official meanings and connotations in different parts of the world. The United Nations' definition is broad, including any people working outside of their home country...

s employed in heavy industry. Some also run restaurants, trading companies, and grocery stores in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

, especially in the so-called "Central Asia Village" in Jung-gu
Jung-gu, Seoul
Jung-gu is one of the 25 gu which make up the city of Seoul, South Korea. It is located on the north side of the Han River, and is the historical center of the city .-Overview:...

's Gwanghui-dong
Gwanghui-dong
Gwanghui-dong is a dong, neighbourhood of Jung-gu in Seoul, South Korea.-External links:*...

, near Dongdaemun
Dongdaemun
Heunginjimun, literally "Gate of Rising Benevolence" or more commonly known as Dongdaemun, is a prominent landmark in central Seoul, South Korea. The Korean name "Dongdaemun" means "Great East Gate," and it was so named because it was the major eastern gate in the wall that surrounded Seoul during...

. Mongolians seeking to migrate to South Korea for work are required by South Korea's Ministry of Labor
Ministry of Labor (South Korea)
South Korea's Ministry of Employment and Labor is a cabinet-level ministry overseeing labor affairs. Its predecessor agency, the Division of Labor, was established under the direction of the Minister of Social Affairs on 11 November 1948. It was upgraded to a cabinet ministry on 8 April 1981....

 to obtain a score of at least 120 on the Korean Language Proficiency Test
Korean Language Proficiency Test
The Korean Language Proficiency Test, or KLPT, tests people who are not native speakers of Korean on their grasp of the language. The goal is to determine whether the test-taker is proficient enough to live in Korea, work as an employee at a Korean company, etc...

 in order to receive permission to work in most industries; however, the required score for working in agriculture, fishing, and construction is lower. Demand to take the test is extremely high; for the 2007 sitting, some candidates queued for four days in chaotic conditions outside Ulan Bator's Central Stadium in May to register. A total of 14,929 candidates (9,892 men and 5,037 women) signed up for the test that year, of whom 14,606 actually sat for it; 44% (6,487) scored higher than 120 points, while 91% met the minimum mark for agriculture, fishing, and construction.

Aside from migrant workers, Mongols come to South Korea for other purposes as well. , there were also roughly 1,700 Mongols who came to South Korea annually to pursue higher education. Some Mongol women also come to South Korea as the brides of men they met through international marriage agencies; their average age is just 24.9, whereas that of their husbands is 44.5, and many are more educated than their husbands.

Inter-ethnic relations

Mongols living in South Korea cite the age-based hierarchy
Korean Confucianism
Korean Confucianism is the form of Confucianism developed in Korea. One of the most substantial influences in Korean intellectual history was the introduction of Confucian thought as part of the cultural influence from China...

 of the Korean social structure as a major cultural difference with their homeland and a significant barrier to adaptation, noting that in Mongolia, people with age differences of five years still speak to one another as equals, but in Korea, they are obligated to use honorific forms of speech
Korean honorifics
The Korean language reflects the important observance of a speaker or writer's relationships with both the subject of the sentence and the audience. Korean grammar uses an extensive system of honorifics to reflect the speaker's relationship to the subject of the sentence and speech levels to...

 to address people even one year older than them. Others assert that Koreans are more polite to Westerners than to other Asians.

Four Mongols who saved 11 Koreans from a fire were given official right to live and work in South Korea by the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Justice in 2007.

Education

South Korea has one school specifically aimed at the children of Mongol migrant workers: the Mongol School, in Gwangjang-dong
Gwangjang-dong
Gwangjang-dong is a dong, neighbourhood of Gwangjin-gu in Seoul, South Korea.-External links:* at the Gwangjin-gu official website...

, Gwangjin-gu
Gwangjin-gu
Gwangjin-gu is one of the 25 wards of Seoul, South Korea. It is located on the north side of the Han River. It was created from neighboring Seongdong-gu in 1995.Gwangjin-gu is home to Konkuk University and Sejong University...

, Seoul. It was established in August 1999 with eight students. A large proportion of the students are the children of illegal immigrants
Illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...

 who are unable to attend regular government schools. By 2011, it enrolled roughly 80 students in grades 1–9. It is officially authorised by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to offer courses up to the high school level; due to a shortage of funding and space it only offers elementary and middle school classes, though they plan to begin building facilities for a high school division in 2011. It follows the curriculum of Mongolia, using Mongolian as the medium of instruction
Medium of instruction
Medium of instruction is a language used in teaching. It may or may not be the official language of the country or territory. Where the first language of students is different from the official language, it may be used as the medium of instruction for part or all of schooling. Bilingual or...

, while also assisting students to learn Korean. Of the 16 graduates in 2010, three planned to return to Mongolia for high school while the rest would enter schools in South Korea. South Korean teachers state that the students generally adapt well to South Korean schools, though the students themselves worry about ethnic bullying and the difficulty of adapting to the use of Korean as the medium of instruction (especially at engineering schools).

External links

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