Coal Miners Sent to Germany: Forgotten Chapter of Koreas Nation Building
69-Year-Old Former Member Recalls His Years Working in Underground Coal Mines
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Forty-six years ago, Kim Tae-woo, then a young man, was saying his farewells to his parents and girlfriend at Gimpo International Airport. What Kim was also leaving behind was a war-ravaged country with few jobs but what he was looking forward to finding at his destination in West Germany was a new life with a well-paying job as a member of Korea's miners' brigade.
Now, the well-dressed man at the age of 69, remembers his Air France flight on that Dec. 23, 1964, with a mixture of feelings. The passage of time only sharpens the edges of his memory.
During a recent interview with The Korea Times, he recalls his life in Germany as a member of the imported foreign labor movement as if turning pages in an old album filled with faded black and white photos.
He remembers his first feeling was one of excitement.
Nearly 300 other robust, relatively well-educated and mannered men in suits and ties were already in their seats in the airplane, having their seat belts fastened and sitting upright, eagerly awaiting takeoff.
"I still clearly remember how tasty the bread, snacks and drinks we consumed on board were," Kim recollected during a recent interview with The Korea Times. "I particularly loved to sip wine contained in a wooden fist-sized bottle. It was really nice…"
They were sort of a "national team."
But the hospitality they were offered in flight was not because they were athletes or craftsmen expected to boost national pride in an international competition.
They were miners destined to scatter to some 140 coal mines across West Germany upon arrival and work for three years.
Starting December 1963, poverty-stricken South Korea sent a total of 7,968 men in their 20s and 30s in phases to coal mines in the Ruhr Valley under an intergovernmental contract that stated they would serve as miners for three years in exchange for receiving financial aid of 150 million Deutsche Marks. Back then, South Korea's per capita income stood at $87, marking one of the poorest states in the world.
At that time, West Germany saw its domestic demand for coal soaring in the wake of an industrial boom, but was struggling with a shortage of miners.
The migration, which is often described as the country's first manpower export, continued until December 1977.
The funds secured in this way provided a basic yet critical grounding for the poor Asian state devastated by the 1950-53 Korean War to grow up as one of the world's leading economic powerhouse.
But not many of today's young generation are aware of their ordeals in a country on the opposite side of the planet and their dedication for economic growth. Few textbooks for primary and secondary schools deal with the story, putting the historic event in risk of losing its place in modern Korean history.
"We were human collateral," Kim said. "To secure fund injections from other countries, the Korean government went to great lengths but failed because they had no collateral available. Learning that West Germany was having trouble meeting soaring coal demands due to miner shortages, the government offered a miner-for-aid swap and the proposal was accepted."
Dispatched miners were relatively better off and well-educated compared to those in the same age group in their home country where only a handful of high school graduates advanced to college.
A 560-page white book containing detailed stories about the event said one out of four Korean miners possessed a college diploma and half of the others were high school graduates.
Working environments in German mines were notoriously rudimentary.
The government estimates around 117 Korean miners died in accidents within mine tunnels that stretched down 700 to 800 meters under the ground.
"We woke up at 4 a.m. at a dormitory near the mine. After eating cheese and milk for breakfast, we walked into the tunnel and descended to the bottom of the tunnel using an elevator. We drilled, hammered and scooped coal on to a conveyer belt enduring sizzling geothermal heats and inhaling dusty air," Kim said.
He said the life in the mine tunnels was a "sink-or-swim" game.
"Those classified as unqualified workers were forced to return home and compensate what the European state spent in advance to bring them to its soil. So we had to complete our duty no-holds-barred."
The German government shows its deep gratitude to the Korean miners' painful labors, portraying their efforts as an important chapter of Germany's modern history.
German Ambassador to Seoul Hans-Ulrich Seidt told The Korea Times that the Korean miners worked together with their German colleagues under difficult circumstances.
"By their hard work and their friendliness they gained the deep respect and gratitude of the German people," the ambassador said in the first ever statement issued in connection with this matter. "The joint experience of Korean and German miners in the Ruhr Valley will remain an important chapter of our common history."
A Dong-A Ilbo newspaper report on Dec. 22, 1966, quoted a German miner as saying, "Korean miners are quite diligent and have strong mettle."
Despite the toughness of the workplace, being granted a ticket to the German mines was extremely competitive. Kim said competition for the opportunity was 500:1.
Such a frenetic application for the tough job was attributable to its salary, which was staggering compared to the domestic level.
"I earned 1,000 Deutsche marks, whose value was tantamount to 50,000 won, on a monthly basis. It was much higher than the 3,000 won monthly income my girlfriend earned as a banker," he said. Bankers were at the top of the pay heap in Korea.
Proving the venture's popularity, Maeil Business Newspaper ran an article on Nov. 22, 1973, about the domestic mining industry facing a radical workforce drainage and subsequent backlash from the Korea Coal Association.
Kim is now trying to raise public awareness of the fading history by using all his resources.
He founded a filmmaking company in Seoul in the late 1960s using knowledge he learned on a six-month crash course in Germany, and recently formed the first-ever association for Korean miners dispatched to West Germany. The association had its launch ceremony in January and plans to kick off nationwide campaigns.
He is also considering making a film based on the experiences of himself and his peers if it is deemed helpful to achieve their goal.
"We could be a model case to highlight Korean's can-do-spirit," he said. "It's an everlasting value that has worked and will continue to work."
The association will also start campaigns to support immigrant workers in Korea.
"As we were at times discriminated against in Germany for our nationality and skin color, we will try to form a social atmosphere in which Korean people embrace aliens regardless of their skin color, state of origin and other external factors."