Going Away. Going Home! Coming Home? The Migration of Korean Nurses and Miners to Germany and Their Return in Retirement to Korea’s German Village – Together with Their German Husbands

Abstract

Korean migrant workers, nurses and miners, left their homeland for the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1960s and 1970s. All spent their early adulthood there. About one third stayed in Germany into late adulthood, most of them marrying (nurses either married a Korean or a German and miners usually married a Korean) and having children who, in turn, are currently in early adulthood. The first-generation migrant workers have spent the longest part of their lives in Germany. Having now reached the age of retirement, some of them are reflecting on going back to Korea, and some have made the first move or have already “crossed the Rubicon.” A small number have settled in Korea’s south in a place that became known as the German Village (Dogil Maeul). In this article, three aspects of this migration and return migration process will be discussed: first, going to and living in Germany, second, pondering going back to Korea after retirement, and third, living together with their spouses in Korea’s German Village.