By Bryan Kay
Staff Reporter
A Korean-German former professional ice hockey player is in Seoul promoting a book he has written about his experiences growing up in northern Europe.
Martin Hyun (Jong-bum), the first Korean to star in the country's top ice hockey league, wrote about the integration of the largely hidden Korean community in Germany.
Called ``Lautlos-Ja Strachlos-Nein" in German, or ``Silence-Yes Speechless-No" in English, it explores the Korean experience as a minority group living and working in an often unforgiving environment.
``Not much is known about the Koreans in Germany," explained Hyun. ``Most went as coal miners and women as nurses. We have about 35,000 Koreans in Germany officially, but if we count people like me who have German passports, there might be more like 70,000."
Hyun added that efforts to improve the integration of Koreans in Germany and raising their profile is making significant progress after some obstacles, including one instance when the community was overlooked for a national conference on the topic.
This is the first time Hyun has been in Korea to promote the book, published last September. Although the book is currently only available in German, Hyun said hopes are high it can be translated into first Korean and eventually English.
Anyone interested in finding out more about the book or purchasing a copy, should get in touch with the Goethe Institute in Korea, or the German Embassy.