Yoon meets former nurses, miners sent to Germany

President Yoon Suk Yeol met Wednesday with a group of former nurses and miners sent to Germany in the 1960s to earn foreign currency for South Korea’s economic development, saying the government will work to ensure their sweat and dedication were not in vain.

The meeting took place over lunch at a hotel in Seoul, with the attendance of around 240 former nurses, miners and nursing assistants, as well as first lady Kim Keon Hee and government and presidential officials.

This year marks 140 years since the 1883 signing of a treaty of friendship and commerce between Germany and the Joseon Dynasty, Korea’s predecessor, as well as 60 years since the first batch of nurses and miners were sent to Germany.

“Your sweat and dedication were the foundation for the Republic of Korea’s industrialization, and your lives were our nation’s modern history,” Yoon said in opening remarks.

“Your sense of responsibility for your families and homeland amid the foreign environment and dangerous workplace is what created you and the Republic of Korea of today,” he added.

Yoon recalled that the foreign currency remitted by some 20,000 South Korean miners and nurses in the 1960s and 70s formed the seed money needed to achieve the Miracle of the Han River, a term referring to South Korea’s rapid economic development in the decades following the 1950-53 Korean War.

“Now it is time for the Republic of Korea to thank and take care of our miners and nurses who were sent to Germany,” he said. “To ensure your drops of sweat were not in vain, the Republic of Korea will fulfill its role as a global pivotal state that contributes to world freedom, peace and prosperity.”