According to unofficial sources, more than 50,000 Mongolians are studying, working, and living in South Korea. This is the highest number compared to the population of soums and cities in Mongolia’s 21 provinces. More than 1,700,000 citizens in Ulaanbaatar, 102,000 citizens in Erdenet, 84,000 citizens in Darkhan, and 50,000 citizens live in Seoul. This inspired me to learn about South Korea more and fortunately, there was organized a book launch of gentleman named Kil Kangmug, Consular General from South Korea to Mongolia, last week and I went there. He wrote the book “Letter from the 22nd Province” based on his memories of living and working in Mongolia for three years from 2017 to 2020. Whilst living in Mongolia, he studied the Mongolian economy and life and traveled to all the provinces of Mongolia and turned his impressions into poems. I had a few minutes to talk to him about his book at the book launch, which helped me continue learn about the Mongolians living in South Korea. At the end of the speech, I asked “Where does Mongolia lie in your heart?” He answered, "Can you ask me where did I come from?” Then when I asked that, he said, “I'm from Ulaanbaatar.” For him, it seems that Mongolia feels like his motherland.
During the three years of working in Mongolia, South Korean Consul Kil Kangmug reviewed the visa materials of 500,000 people. He said, “The U.S. Embassy in Mongolia conducts individual interviews with all visa applicants. On the contrary, the consul of South Korea has a special discussion with the visa applicant only if it deems necessary based on the documents provided by the visa applicant. The visa applicant’s status in society, financial capacity, previous residence in South Korea, and family status will be checked based on documents and called for an interview if necessary. During the past three years, when I checked the visa application, I tried to understand the life of the person rather than only looking at the ‘documents’ of the visa applicant. Therefore, despite being busy, it was important to talk as much as possible when there was a good reason. It takes at least 20 to 30 minutes to talk with one person, and longer with an interpreter. After meeting only a few people, the day is over.”
He continued, “Conversations take longer, but whispering is simple and short. I was very tired when I left work on a day with many interviews. The reason for taking the time to meet is to understand the visa applicant's life accurately. Why is this person going to South Korea? I wanted to get a closer look at the human life inside the documents. Rather than judging them by their past, it is important to see how they are doing now.” With this short but insightful interview with Mr. Kil Kangmug in my mind, I have continuously embarked on my research about Mongolians in South Korea.
Why Mongolians are going to South Korea?
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and South Korea in 1990, the economic, social, and cultural relations between the two countries have continued to expand, and the relationship between citizens, which is the basis of all this, has also been expanding. Statistics show that more than 29,000 foreigners from more than 120 countries live in Mongolia as of 2019. Among them, more than 3,000 or 10.3 percent are South Korean citizens. So, here you can see the level of relations between the two countries. For Mongolians, South Korea seems like a country that is right next door and they can walk into because it only takes three hours to fly there. It seems to take much less to go to South Korea than to go to the western province from Ulaanbaatar. Also, there are quite a few people who have studied and lived in South Korea with their families and relatives, so South Korea does not seem like a distant country to us, at all.
“Salary is encouraging even for work is hard”
Many Mongolians go to South Korea for their own respective reasons. Study, work, live, receive treatment, etc. Every year, the South Korean government hires large number of contractual workers from Mongolia. According to the salary survey statistics released by the “Salary Explorer” website, as of 2023, the average monthly salary in South Korea is 2950.54 USD, while the average monthly salary in Mongolia is 557.14 USD. But in fact, only a few people in Mongolia earn the Mongolian average salary. Even having 285 USD or 1,000,000 MNT on hand is rare. Because of this huge wage gap, Mongolian youth want to do any kind of work in South Korea, even hard physical work. Well, they prepare their visa materials, visit the visa application office several times, sometimes go to the embassy for an interview, and go to South Korea on a three-month travel or one-year work visa. Everyone wants to go back home after three months of high-paying work. Men insist that they can do anything if their salary is reliable. But for women, they are more often “distributed” to places such as hotel maids and factories. People who go to South Korea to work can find work in two ways. The first is regular employment. But the other part prefers to go to the “samshil” or labor exchange every morning to find a job and get paid in the evening. In this case, the recruiters pay a small amount of tax on their salary. In general, in addition to Mongolians, dozens of nationalities from developing countries such as Vietnam, India, and Uzbekistan are working in South Korea. They have also occupied their respective markets. Mongolians will work harder in hard work such as moving construction materials and furniture. There is a trend that even South Korean directors rarely hire people other than Mongolians for such difficult tasks. It seems that our people have learned to do it. The owners will not forget that the Mongolians are strong. And all Mongolians unanimously say, “The salary is encouraging even for work is hard.” Assuming full employment, the annual income of Mongolian citizens living in South Korea is about 1.5 trillion won. This is equivalent to one-third of Mongolia’s GDP of 4.5 trillion won. Of course, if we include the income of passengers on short-term visas for up to 90 days, the figure will be even higher.
Strive for where there is an opportunity
Let me tell you that every Mongolian I met who was in South Korea said, “I wish justice would be established in my country, I wish there were jobs, people would be fairly compensated, and that the politicians would work humanely.” Seeing many Mongolians who get up early in the morning and work tirelessly until the evening, I found out that we can’t judge them. There is no right to judge people for chasing their happiness and what works for them. There is no possibility to ask that “Will you lay the bone in your country when you are going to die (Mongolian way of saying to have your funeral in Mongolia)?” It seems that it is not their fault that their trust in the Mongolian government is lost, and that they aspire to be on a foreign land. Mongolians in South Korea feel and understand the importance of doing things the way they are done, being responsible, and not losing the trust of others. You can walk peacefully in the streets of South Korea at night. On the contrary, in Mongolia, it is incredibly unsafe to walk alone at night, for anybody, men or women. In South Korea, if you forget your phone on a park bench and come back to it, it's still in the place it was. But in Mongolia, it would have found its owner a long time ago. Last but not least, I am not going to hide the fact that I had a secret wish that these positive attitudes inflicted in Mongolians in South Korea would be transported into my country through the Mongolian people working there.
