61st Most Ansan residents find Korean Dream out of reach

‘Street Without Borders’ shows foreigners feeling isloated from rest of Korean society

By Kim Jae-won

ANSAN, Gyeonggi Province ― Talk in Chinese was spilling from a television set inside a shop along a street in this city of foreign workers and immigrants.

A peek inside the store revealed an ethnic Korean from China watching a Chinese soap opera, taking advantage of a lull between visits by customers.

The shelves were filled with rice, soju, kimchi and cigarettes among others. The store appears to be little out of ordinary from other shops in the “Street Without Borders.”

The proprietress from Jilin Province, who runs the store with her husband, said she left her nine-year-old son under the care of her parents in the northeastern province of China.

“Koreans hold prejudices against us. I don’t want my son to get the same treatment here,” the woman in her 30s told The Korea Times. The storeowner didn’t want her name to be used for this article.

She wouldn’t go into detail about what kinds of discrimination she has suffered from or expects her son would face but looked confident about her decision to leave him behind.

She added that China was growing fast economically so she saw a better chance for her son there.

“He should learn Chinese because China will prosper in the future,” she said.

Once outside the shop where Korean was no longer a tool for conversation in this island of foreigners inside Korea, where the local language is no longer the lingua franca and no one single language reigns.

Talked to in Korean, most residents answered “molla,” which means “I don’t know” in Korean.

But as with any rule, there was an exception ― Manoj Kumar Dangi was one. The owner of Nepalese restaurant “Kathmandu” was proud of his Korean skill. He prepared for two years before coming to Korea.

“I have no problem in understanding Korean,” Dangi said in fluent but accented Korean.

He served a chicken curry for 7,000 won with well-baked naan bread, about the half price of the dish sold in downtown Seoul.

A Vietnamese cafe at the end of the street added exotic flavor with its various coffee selections. Specifically, espresso with condensed milk, which offered a unique deep and sweet taste that Starbucks could never imitate.

“Vietnamese coffee has a deep taste. It tastes better when you drink it with ice,” said a waitress in Korean.

She enjoys web surfing on her laptop and listening to music from her country when there are no customers to serve.

Jeong Yoon-yi, sales manager of a KT outlet, said that her business is good thanks to foreign workers, who are ready to pay hundreds of thousands won for new smartphones.

She said consuming patterns are different by ethnic groups.

“Vietnamese workers spend money well. They willingly pay 700,000 won to 800,000 won for a new smartphone.”

Indonesians and Filipinos are sensitive to new products, and change their phones regularly, according to the sales manager.

About 80,000 foreign workers and immigrants live in the city seeking to make their Korean dream come true, according to Jun Jae-ku, director of the Ansan Migrant Community Service Center run by the city.

An average foreign employee earns about 1.4 million won per month, about three times his or her salary back in their home country.

Ethnic Koreans from China are the biggest group among foreign workers, while marriage immigrants account for 70 percent.

Vietnamese and Uzbeks came second and third, with 6 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively. Filipinos, Indonesians, Russians, Thais, Mongolians and Bangladeshi people are also members of the community.

Among them, 59,000 are registered, while others are unregistered or illegal residents.

Jun said the center provides one-stop services for the workers and marriage immigrants from Korean classes and job training programs to free clinic and library services in eight languages ― Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Mongolian, Russian, Tagalog and English.

“You should not separate yourself from them. You are also one of them in the same society,” he said.

The senior official said that he saw prejudice and discrimination against colored people deep down in his heart, but it is being reduced step by step.

“I love my job to help multicultural families. I hope Koreans will understand other ethnic groups better through our education programs.”