Koreans in The Arab World - History

History

Though Korea had a long history of trading contact with the Arab world by means of intermediaries, there were no recorded Korean visitors before 1959, when two Korean Muslims went to Mecca for the hajj. In 1974, the first South Korean firm won a contract in the region, for highway construction in Saudi Arabia, and imported 218 South Korean construction workers, the first Korean residents, to assist in the project. The following year, 3,593 South Koreans went to Saudi Arabia for work. By 1977, migrants to Saudi Arabia alone composed nearly one-fifth of all registered emigration from South Korea, making it the third-most popular destination for emigrants (the top two being Japan and the United States, each of which had longstanding Korean communities, Korean Americans and Zainichi Koreans).

The growth in the South Korean migrant worker population reflected a deliberate policy of the government to promote manpower exports; they had established a special department for this purpose as early as the mid-1960s, and in the 1970s, construction enterprises were given priority in order to facilitate their entry into overseas markets. Over two dozen South Korean companies employed migrant labour, the largest such employer being Hyundai Construction; Koreans were described as having a "competitive advantage" over workers of other nationalities due to their discipline and level of skill, which some commentators attributed to South Korea's practise of universal male conscription. Unlike their Western competitors, Koreans worked around the clock in shifts; huge lighting systems were installed to facilitate night work. A survey of migrants showed that 73% were between 25 and 40 years old; under half (48%) of the regular workers were married, while 69% of contract workers were.

The receiving countries were concerned about the effect that long-term residence of migrant workers could have on their societies; they preferred Korean workers because they were unaccompanied by family members and so stayed only for short periods. The typical length of an assignment in the region was three years. Migration to the region would peak in 1982 and 1983. Wages were around four to five million won, roughly twice what could be earned in South Korea at the time, and workers typically remitted 80% of their salaries. Families used saved remittances to purchase houses or start businesses. However, migration was not a success for everyone: roughly one-in-ten workers returned from the Middle East reported a decrease in income, usually due to inability to find suitable work. The hot, dry climate and long work hours also resulted in health problems for many workers, and the medical bills whittled away at their savings.

Several factors in the late 1980s contributed to decreasing the amount of Korean migration. Increasing labour unrest initiated by South Korean workers provided one stimulus for the localisation of the workforce. South Korea's rising labour costs were another reason. During the latter half of the 1980s, the proportion of Korean labourers working on construction projects for Hyundai declined from 70% to only 20-30% during the 1980s, with the shortfall being taken up by local labourers instead. By 1990, only 56,000 South Korean migrant workers went abroad to any destination, a drop of over 70% since 1982. By 1992, the wage gap between South Korea and the rich countries of the Middle East had largely disappeared. The South Korean population would shrink over the following decade before rebounding slightly to 13,008 by 2009. Over the next two years, the population would show rapid growth of nearly 27%, reaching 16,461 by 2011. Nearly three-quarters of that recent population growth was driven by increased migration to the United Arab Emirates.

Furthermore, in an echo of the South Korean policy of the 1970s and 1980s, the North Korean government has also been sending its workers abroad to earn hard currency for their country recently. As of 2009, there were estimated to be six thousand North Korean workers in various Arab countries, including Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen; like the South Koreans two decades earlier, they also work primarily in construction-related trades such as welding and carpentry.