Smartphones

Among the most important possessions in Korea is a cell phone. Everyone starting from age 3 or 4 has their own set and it is more of a status symbol besides whatever these little - do everything-devices offer.A study done by Electronics and Telecommunications Research Groups (ETRG) suggested that smartphones ownership indicate 'income gaps' and not just that it also indicate 'education gaps'in the apparent use of smartphones. After doing a survey of about 800 people (btw. age 15-49) they suggested that people with higher education are more likely to use the smartphones....this was interesting!My personal opinion is the choice of games one can play on it - here, these computer games are huge and hence, these phones have made life much easier.

I read in Korea Times that Samsung will triple its sale of Smartphone - Galaxy series of Android handsets to 60 million handsets in 2011 from 20 million in 2010 and just 0.9% in 2008. Samsung is the world’s second-largest mobile-phone manufacturer behind Nokia, but has been struggling to compete with Apple in consumer smartphones. However, with Google’s Android mobile platform beginning to duplicate Apple’s strength in operating systems and applications, Samsung is now a leading provider of Android devices. An interesting article by daum is here.



Samsung’s flagship product in smartphones is the Galaxy S, an Android device it managed to sell more than 10 million since its launch in June next year, with more than half of the sales coming from North America and Europe.The company also markets handsets that run on Microsoft’s Windows Mobile. Samsung also sold more than 1.5 million of its Galaxy Tab tablets to become virtually the only company to provide competition to the Apple iPad.

SMARTPHONES IMPACT IN OUR LIVES

Koreans enjoy the benefits of the go-anywhere Internet services offered by smartphones with more than 10 million people(24% of the entire population) using the high-tech gadgets here in Korea. A very interesting article can be read here.
For Korean citizens the package to own these phone is again - long term contracts.
What I noticed and learned from fellow students was quite interesting. Why almost everyone has a smartphone? Reason is simple...telecom companies which are SK, LG and KT..have an offer: a foreign student who will sign a contract for 2 years they will get a free phone, all they have to do is to pay about 30$(USD) a month! Another interesting fact I found out was: if a student is fluent enough in Korean to convince the dealer they can get these phone for even one year with almost same benefits.[Requirement for having a cell phone include: minimum 6 months visa BUT there are more ways than one to own a cell phone...such as having have a trusted Korean friend would land you with a phone. Koreans can register more than one phone on their names whereas foreigners can only own a "single phone" on their ID card verification etc.]

NOW QUESTION OF THE DAY: WHO IS SMART?

All this comes down to the who is smart?? The phone, the companies or the customer? Is it a win-win strategy to own a smartphone, a zero sum game??

I would say that all this makes customer less smarter. Personally, I have made up to a month of call/text messages for just 10 dollars(USD). I really would NOT like to pay extra 20$ each month - on top, I have a landline phone...so, having have a smartphone is not too smart a deal for me!


Having said all this: I must say that when I got lost in Sweden....and when I asked from people for some pointers to find my way...they took out their smartphhones....and told me exactly where and how should I go....at that moment, I was not only thankful to the people in Sweden but to all those who developed "Smartpones" - they are too damn smart!!!


An ad. in the Newspaper ( 메일경제)

List of Mosques in Korea

Besides the official Seoul Central Mosque in Itaewon (my post here) , the list of mosques in other provinces in Korea is below, this list doesn't include the mosques (masjid)/prayers rooms that students or other private individuals have established:

Gyeonggi-do/ Paju Masjid
Located near the Imjin River , the Paju Masjid is mostly frequented by Bangladeshi and Pakistani Muslims in the vicinity.
Address : 421-9, Yeongtae-ri, Wonreung-myeon, Paju-si, Gyeonggi-do
Tel : +82-31-946-2110


Bupyeong Masjid
Located in the east end of Incheon, Bupyeong Masjid is a place of worship for immigrant Muslim workers in nearby areas, including Namdong Industrial Complex in Incheon.
Address : 574-19, Sipjeong-dong, Bupyeong-gu, Incheon
Tel : +82-32-512-2612


Anyang Masjid
Anyang Masjid, not far from Seoul, is operated independently by Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Address : 618-132, Anyang 5-dong, Anyang-si, Gyeonggi-do
Tel : +82-31-444-7757


Ansan Masjid
An imam from Bangladesh serves at the Ansan Masjid, which is operated independently by immigrant Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Indonesia working at the nearby Ansan Industrial Complex.
Address : 741-5, Wongok-dong, Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do
Tel : +82-31-492-1948


Gwangju Masjid
In Gwangju (Gyeonggi-do), which is adjacent to Seongnam, Icheon and Namyangju, Gwangju Masjid, Korea 's third masjid, was opened in 1981.
Address : 48-9, Yeok-ri, Gwangju-eup, Gwangju-gun, Gyeonggi-do
Tel : +82- 31- 761-3424


Jeolla-do/Jeonju Masjid
Matching Jeonju's reputation as a city of tradition and art, Jeonju Masjid shows the harmony between Korean and Islamic architecture. Traditional Korean roof tiles adorn the Islamic dome.
Address : 1562-10, Inhu-dong 2-ga, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do
Tel : +82- 63- 243-1483


Busan/Busan Masjid
Busan Masjid was the second masjid to open in Korea. It was built in 1980 with financial support from Ali Fellaq, the former minister of finance of Libya .
Address : 30-1, Namsan-dong, Geumjeong-gu, Busan
Tel : +82- 51- 518-9991


Islamic Centers/Macheon-Geoyeo Center
Address : 186-26, Geoyeo-dong, Songpo-gu, Seoul
Tel : +82-2- 431-6850

Suwon Center
Address : 320-15, Dangsu-dong, Gwonseon-gu, Suwon , Gyeonggi-do
Tel : +82- 31- 295-2956

Jeju Center
Address : Rm. 1215, Jeonghan Officetel, 939, Nohyeong-dong, Jeju
Tel : +82- 64- 712-1215


Daegu Center
Address : 202-6, Jukjeon-dong, Dalseo-gu, Daegu
Tel : +82-53- 523-2171

Gwangju Center
Address : 894-7, Wolgyeo-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju
Tel : +82-62- 972-5136
Website of Korea Muslim Foundation: http://www.koreaislam.org (Korean, English)

For Pocheon, Cheonnan, Kimhae  and  Jinju please look at the this blog post by an Indonesian blogger.

OR

Visit Korea Muslim Federation website, here they have  updated a list of mosques in various cities but it is in Korean language however, one can get help to locate phone number and address.



Credits: Korea Tourism Corporation

GLOBALIZING KOREAN FOOD

The food above was served during one of the semester get-togethers!

These past two weeks I had to select restaurants within the confines of vegetarian (not in its strict sense) and halal. Had to search for hours every day and thanks to the project that I am involved with - I did learned a lot about restaurants, menus, places and everything related to 'eating in Korea'.

Many of us come to Korea with a very conservative image of 'food choices'. I must say that please, be open minded because here nobody will go hungry and the country has almost all the choices (from wherever u are) for everyone who plans to visit or is visiting Korea. I will only say that Korean Cuisine is diverse, tasty and beautiful too. :-)

What has the government as well as the media been doing about globalization of 'Korean Cuisine' project you can read in the article here.

One very interesting piece of news was in KT about CJ Foodville, the country's leading food service company, who have launched a bibimbap-specialized restaurant Bibigo, with an eye firmly gazing on the overseas market.

The highest number of visitors coming to Korea belong to China and Japan and hence one Chinese Newspaper highlighted on Korea's growing investment on globalizing of Korean food. The article, though published in 2009, can be read in full HERE and gives an idea of how things are moving in this sphere.

A comprehensive list of VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT IN SEOUL.

Blogger Down...

..for 36 hours in my case. I tried to log in but it wasn't possible - the message was that there is a maintenance problem.

Like everything else in life, moved on and honestly speaking, I accomplished more tasks in a day than I usually am able to do.

Anyhow, before going to bed, I thought I should also start a blog in Wordpress, since everyone has a blog there. I signed up and made one for myself but honestly speaking, it took me so much time to figure out where is what and finally, I did not post anything? Nevertheless, it offers more choices than blogger but sometimes simpler versions on anything are good enough!

One important reminder is how simply can we lose control and access to our own little space on the web (which technically is not not even ours)! Should we be calling it "ours" in the first place???

Anyhow, a few years back, a bitter experience of mine is that with hotmail account (they used to be very popular) - when one day after logging in - I saw that all the emails, folders, pictures were gone..........there was nothing - EMPTY...which also led to emptiness within me. I first signed up with hotmail in 1995. After losing important materials ... MSN and hotmail became history.

Anyhow, in bloggers case, we are back to the normal routine....
Just wonder what these technical problems may lead to..?

Breaking News in Korea

Explosions at the Seoul station and the Express Bus Terminal today at 11:20 a.m, Thurday, 12 May, 2011.
Thank God nobody got hurt and the investigation is underway for details read HERE

Korean Soldiers

Soldiers from the Korean army praying at the Seoul Mosque in South Korea

Photocredits@Korea Times

Seoul Global Center (서울 글로벌 센터)

Seoul Global Center for Foreigners (SGC) is the only one-stop service organization in Korea to provide support to the expat community. The Seoul Global Center offers expert services to foreigners, advising them on how to conduct successful business activities and have a comfortable living experience, as well as helping them to enjoy the local culture to the full. Experts and volunteers (also from the expat community who have lived for 2 or more years here) in various fields provide professional services to foreigners visiting the center. From multi-language consultations in English, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Mongolian, Tagalog and Uzbek, to business consultations, comprehensive administrative services, various educational courses and international exchange events, the SGC provides foreigners with an opportunity to experience diverse aspects of Seoul. Seoul is quickly developing into a “clean and attractive international city” and a “foreigner-friendly global city.”

Directions:

Walk 50m towards the Press Center from Exit 4 of City Hall Station (Line 1)

Walk 300m towards the Press Center from Exit 5 of Gwanghwamun Station (Line 5)

Tel : 02-2075-4130

Business Hours : Mon-Fri. 09:00-18:00 (Lunch 12:00-13:00)

Multilingual ConsultationThe Center provides a wide range of useful information through consultations on day-to-day issues, business consultations, professional consultations, and others.

Languages:

English, Chinese, Japanese, Mongolian, Tagalog, and Vietnamese (Mon-Fri: 09:00-18:00)

Uzbek and Russian (Wed and Fri: 09:00~13:00)

You can visit the SGC website here. It is very detailed and a must visit website for anyone who wants to visit, work and live in Korea.

More information on the moving of their office to the new building can be found HERE.

Korea: Buddha's Birthday Today

I took this picture on a trip to a temple in Southern Part of South Korea in 2004

In Korea, Buddha's birthday (a national holiday in Korea) is celebrated today according to the Lunisolar calendar. This day is called 석가탄신일 (Seokga than-sin-il), meaning "the day of Buddha's birthday" or 부처님 오신 날 (Bucheonim oshin nal) meaning "the day when Buddha arrived".
Koreans celebrate this event with great fervour and its 20,000 temples nationwide have special ceremonies and festivities for each and everyone from all faiths and from around the world to celebrate the event with them. Seoul's Jogye Temple will be holding traditional services not just today but for the whole month. Jogye is Korea's largest and most influential Buddhist order. In East Asia, the Buddha's birthday is celebrated on the eighth day of the fourth month in the Chinese lunar calendar.


Lotus lantern festival is the biggest event that was held this year between May 7 - 8, 2011 - with lantern parades (starting from Dongdaemun gate and finishing at Jogye-sa), music, concerts, drum festival, meditiation techniques and lantern making events being offered for everybody to try their hands on. Morning hours are allocated to religious festivities and street fair is follwed later in the day in which Buddhism-related products and Korean traditional crafts can be found in plenty. This week holds great significance to all Buddhists, it provides a fun opportunity for foreigners in particular and the rest of the public in general to see some of the most distinct contrasts between the Old and the New by providing a glimpse into some of Korea’s oldest cultural and religious traditions and how they are still practiced today.

White lanterns have a name of the deceased relative for whom the temples do special prayers

Lanterns in all the different colors cover the entire temples throughout the month which are also seen as the special decoration on both sides of the streets/roads all over the city. Many temples provide free meals and tea to all visitors.
It is one of the most colorful and aniticipated events in Korea and is my favorite Korean holiday.
For information on temple stay visit here .

photocredits@ Korea Times and Matt Kelly

Mother's Day

In Canada, the US, Pakistan and China- 8 May is "Mother's Day", whereas in Korea it is the "Parent's Day". I wish all the mothers all over the world a wonderful mother's day as well as Parents' Day. My mother is in the US and my sister gave her roses on behalf of all of her children. It was wonderful. We all talked to her and that's how her day started.

It is important to note that different countries have different dates on which this day is celebrated but a rather large number celebrates it in MAY and the dates are: 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 16, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30.

I will briefly go to how Korea and Pakistan celebrate it?

In Korea, May 8 is a "Parents Day" - which initially was celebrated as Mother's day. Carnations are given to both the parents and it is a holiday. Gifts are given to them and children visit their home or hometowns in case they are living seperately or away from the parents.

In Pakistan, it is relatively a new concept and while looking into the history - I got an impression that it's more of a day celebrated by various channels and later on, got acceptance within certain groups of society. It is not celebrated officially or even as an occasion by masses.

Whatever, the case may be, I wish each and every mother a "very happy mothers day!"

Random Pictures!

IQBAL MASIH: LITTLE HERO FROM PAKISTAN

Peter Gabriel, Michael Stipe and Iqbal Masih (1994)

Iqbal in the US

Iqbal:Cordoba, Spain

The Little Hero: a book by A. Crofts

Name: Iqbal Masih

Birthplace: Muridke, Lahore (Pakistan)

Date of Birth: 1983

Died: 16 April 1995 (shot to death)

Inspired By: Abraham Lincoln & Ehsan Ullah Khan

Networked With: Bonded Labour Liberation Front

Education: BLLF School for former slaves

Sacrifice: His Life

Greatest Achievement: Bringing global awareness to child slavery and bonded workers. Helped identify and encourage thousands of child slaves to seek freedom.

On Iqbal Masih..

Of all the big names, this boy is indeed a hero of heroes, sold into slavery at a carpet factory at age four, he worked on looms until the age of 10, when he ran away from the factory for the first time - a policeman from whom he asked for help - handed him back to the owner of the factory - with a caution to chain Iqbal. All these years he was never fed well, and as a result, his growth was stunted. His back curved, his hands were scarred and callused and his fingers were gnarled from the repetitive work of tying thousands of knots every day. His breathing was labored from the carpet dust that he inhaled and that affected his lungs.

Iqbal never gave up the idea of freedom from bonded labor and eventually on his second attempt he succeeded [BUT with the help of Ehsan Ulla Khan, of the Bonded Labor Liberation Front, (BLLF), he was finally freed). Iqbal thrived and learned, and eventually joined the BLLF as an advocate for Pakistan's 12 million bonded children laborers. Iqbal was intelligent and he was brave.He started attending the BLLF's school and finished 6 years education in just 2 years. An American instiution was so impressed that they awarded him a scholarship to go to school in the US. He was to leave for an educational programme at Brandeis University in a few weeks when he was brutally murdered.

As a worker with the BLLF, he spoke to children about their rights under laws and he freed as many as 3,000 children from bondage. As an international spokesman for the BLLF, he traveled to the United States and Europe calling for an end to bonded child labor.
On 16th April 1995, 25 kilometers from Lahore, in a village called Rakh Baoli, Iqbal was killed with buckshot fired from close range. This death occurred on the evening of Easter.Though he is gone, his actions inspired an international campaign of middle-school students and adults that is helping to free and to educate thousands of child laborers.

"A bullet can't kill a dream" - yes, that is true - a school in the US where Iqbal met with students and shared his life experiences - started a campaign to open schools called:"Schools for Iqbal" which is still raising money to open "School for Iqbal" around the world.

A Spain based SolidarityNet for the abolition of bonded child labor have also made a great contribution to establish schools in Iqbals' name. They are also striving to declare "April 16"-the day Iqbal was shot dead - as The International Day against Child Slavery.

In Sweden, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Netherland, South America, USA and in many parts of the world - Iqbal Masih is a household name.

In Sweden - comic book on life and work of Iqbal has been produced online and in print.

Another magazine can be read here that highlighted Iqbal.

Iqbal is no more but his life and work will keep bringing change in the life of many.

More on IQBAL HERE...and a COMIC STRIP ON IQBAL.
How Iqbal's story brought change for CRAIG KIELBURGER read here.

AUTHOR OF THE DAY

RUTH LAILA SCHMIDT

Professor Emerita

Department of Cultural Studies and Oriental Languages

The Faculty of Humanities

University of Oslo

More details and list of her work on URDU and particularly SHINA can be found HERE.

China Air for Scandinavia

Well, it was the most economical and not so bad choice to go to Scandinavia via Air China - it took only 9 hours from Beijing...a rather quick flight compared to my trips to other places ..

Entering Swedish Airspace: Extraordinary beautiful skies!

A few minutes before landing.

Finishing my assignment...

When the lunch/dinner is served during the flights - it just smells soooooo heavenly- whether one is able to eat it or not at a later stage.

.

Cartoon of the Day

By Jang Bong-kun
　　
U.S. President Barack Obama sits at his office desk with a nameplate “Obama bin Laden,” wearing an Islamic turban on his head and holding an AK-47.
The smoking weapon reads, “Summary execution, terror on international law.”
Beside the desk is a tub reads, “Waterboarding torture, terror on human rights.”

Credits @ HANKYOREH

Children's Day in South Korea

Famous Child actress: Jung Da-bin





In South Korea, yesterday, May 5 is officially recognized as Children's Day (어린이날)-which is a designated holiday. Many kids dress up in their traditional clothing, the hanbok. They get special treats from their parents like favorite meals, parties, or presents. Some families choose to visit the city parks or amusement parks etc. This is indeed the 'most' celebrated day for Korean children - as someone put it "its importance is the same as that of Santa for the children" around Christmas.

The creator of Children's Day is Bang Jeong-hwan (방정환), a children's literature author and activist. The children's day first gained attention from innovative students and leadership of the independence movement of March first in 1919. Even though Bang passed away at a young age of 33, his work and legacy earned him the title of "the eternal friend of all children." Among his contributions is the word "eorini," (어린이) the Korean word for "children" that replaced the word "ahae." He was the first person to publish Korea's first children's magazine called "eorini" or "어린이". He also founded Saekdong [색동], an organization for promoting children's cultural movements & activities (which is up & running until today). Children's Day was stopped in 1939 by the occupying Japanese forces, but was re-established on May 5, 1946 as a fixed holiday.

So anyhow, yesterday, I really had fun while walking down a 2 km road to do grocery shopping on bright, sunny and rather warm day with flowers blooming all around, patels in the air - parents and children walking around the parks, cycling, chatting, going for hikes on nearby hills - usually, we do NOT get to see the children doing leisure much - except for going to school or 'hagwons' - therefore, it was a wonderful sight.

For more on Bang, Jeong-hwan (방정환) click HERE.
A Hankyoreh article on Korean Children.

Pictures of the Day

Abbottabad: As I know it

Abbottabad is in the news for all the wrong reasons which is just so unfortunate.

What Abbotabad means to me?

Well, last time I was in Abbotabad was on my way to Peshawer in 2001. That wasn't my first time - between 1980s- 1999- I went/stayed there for short trips countless times - while living in Giglit. Just last week, when I was in Sweden, I met two IT students from Abbottabad (who were very helpful) and shared with them my desire to spend my retirement days (I don't have to be in 40's or 50's for that) in Abbottabad - a fascinating, pictureque, quiet Himalayan town with 100% literacy, very hospitable and beautiful people and close to all the major cities.

It is hard to believe that Abbottabad's name is all over the planet but not for tourism, its lush green fields, valleys and mountains and neither for its high standard of education and its famous educational institutions - a place where we have the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA), Burn Hall School/College, Ayub Medical College or other numerous education institutions that have given Pakistan some of its most famous/intellectual people.



Abbottabad is a city located in Hazara Division of the NWFP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)on Karakorum Highway on the old Silk road. It is a famous tourist resort with one of the most beautiful landscape and fantastic weather in Pakistan. If one has to go to the Northern Areas (for hiking/trackking in the Karakuram, Himalaya or the Hindukush ranges) you have to pass through this town.



In case you have to go to Peshawer or beyond or down south from Abbottabad to Islamabad, Lahore and the rest of the areas - it is the major transit point. Abbottabad is at the crossroads of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkha provinces and shares a rich culture of both the provinces where people speak Hindko, Potohari, Punjabi, Pushto and a few other languages very comfortably. Neighbouring districts are Mansehra, Muzaffarabad, Haripur and Rawalpindi. Tarbela Dam is also situated near Abbottabad. Sir James M. Douie in his book entitled: 'The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province, and Kashmir' mentioned that "fine forests in Hazára, especially the deodárs, cedars and pines is confined to the Kágan Glen and the Upper Siran mountains" which surrounds Abbottabad.

While passing through Abbotabad - the regular sights used to be of the cadets learning/training for horse riding, playing hockey or doing other sports. It had really huge and beautiful houses. While driving at any instant, all of a sudden a wild deer or a boar appeared right in the middle of the road and some the dhabas had a really tasty food at dirt cheap prices. Beautiful colors and crispy leaves of the fall, pine trees standing tall on both sides of the roads, its snow falls, and streams are memorable.

This town was founded by a British military officer James Abbott as a military cantonment and summer retreat in 1849. Abbotabad literally means: city of Abbott but I am pretty sure that its history dates back to centuries.

Details on Hazara region and the other major cities of the Indian Subcontinent ...can be enjoyed here in a book at the Project Gutenberg entitled: "The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province, and Kashmir"

My childhood bestfriend Rehana was from Abbottabad and thanks to her we used to have apples from Abbottabad each season.I hope that as Abbottabad recovered from 2005 earthquake - it recovers again - as a bustling town and a tourist spot - a status it rightly deserves!

For more on Abbottabad read this very nice post by Doodh Patti.

picture credits@google images

Foreigners in South Korea (December, 2010)

Source: Ministry of Justice (South Korea)
Note: The Data is collected by the immigration office on 31 of every December.

While talking about monoethicity (both North and South)in Korea in my last post, I thought I should breakdown the new multicultral/ethnic/ racial categories by giving some figures and estimates issued by the government of South Korea which shows the current status and number of foreigners in South Korea. Multicultralism is one of the major discourses at all levels here, whether it be economical, political, social or cultural.

Number of foreigners have increased manifold. In 1988, total number of foreigners was about 6,500 which according to the last years estimates has reached over 1.2 million people ( the table only shows the legally registered foreigners), it is important to note that the number of "illegal" ( I prefer to call them unauthorized stayers) foreigneres (offical term used in ROK) is 30% of the total number of foreigners in the country. This figure is NOT huge if we compare it with the traditional immigration countries such as the US, Canada, and Australia but in terms of percentage it says a lot about how dynamics of globalization are bringing changes slowly but surely in a country with 'close immigration policy'..

As a Pakistani, I thought I must highlight Pakistan and its fair share in Korea's foreign population. Pakistan ranks at number 15 - with the highest number of citizens. How come we have so many Pakistanies in Korea?? This has to be dealth with in a number of posts back to back - but basically Pakistanies discovered Korea through Seoul Olympics in 1988. At the time, Korea had a 'visa free entry' - which led many to come and explore opportunities from around the world. Back in the days, during Kim Young-sam's government under the slogan of Segyehwa (globalization) movement - Korea opened itself. This was also the year when Korea's economy actually took off.....its GDP increased and it took a twist - from a labor exporting country it became a labor importing country and started to suffer labor shortages in manufecturing, agriculture, construction, fisheries and livestock in SMEs.
Hence Pakistanies (besides other countries)started to move in and found jobs in these small and medium size enterprizes (SMEs) - that are famous for their 3-D work (dirty, difficult and dangerous) and where the natives have shunned working.

Total No. Of Pakistanies in South Korea as of 31 Dec. 2010 = 5,717 people
Legal Sojourn = 4,573 people
Illegal Sojourn between ages (16-60) = 1,135 people
Total No. of Illegal Stayers from Pakistan = 1,144 people.

It is interesting to note that Chinese (including the Korean diaspora in China) makes up 75% of all the foreigners in Korea.

Top five countries ( according to the Ministry of Justice, South Korea) in terms of the presence of their nationals are:
1- China
2- USA
3- Vietnam
4- Japan
5- Philippines

Pakistanies also come on yearly basis through 'Employment Permit Program'(EPS) - under this program, 15 countries including Pakistan send their workers to Korea in different sectors. The quota of workers varies w.r.t to labor stratification.
Total number of years a worker can stay here is 4 years and 10 months. More information on employment in Korea within EPS category can be found on the portal below:

http://www.eps.go.kr/pa/index.html

Pakistan 101 for Korean Middle/High School Students

Ms. Jiwon Park (Sinsu Middle School: Grade 9)

I have been working with UNESCO's Cross-Cultural Awareness Programme (CCAP) since 2004. This program was launched in September 1998 by the Korean National Commission for UNESCO in cooperation with the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea. CCAP invites foreign residents in Korea to visit Korean schools in order to share the culture of their respective nations with Korean youth.

Foreigners visit elementary and secondary schools with Korean Interpretation Volunteers (KIVs) to share their culture with Korean students. Individuals of any nationality, race, gender and cultural background are welcome to join CCAP as a Cultural Exchange Volunteer (CEV).
CCAP is not designed solely to provide Korean students with knowledge of specific cultures, but rather as a means for sharpening their thoughts and attitudes in favour of cultural diversity and open-mindedness in general.

The instructional method of CCAP is not the traditional lecture style but instead, CEVs are advised to specific examples from their own daily lives, including what they eat, the way they greet and speak, how they play and interact with friends, and what they value in their lives.

CEVs are recommended to utilise activities such as singing, dancing, cooking, sewing, drawing and so on.

Yesterday, I took time out to go to Sinsu Middle School to introduce Pakistan to these 9th grade students. Their teacher came to me and said that usually, students know a country through media and mostly news and she selected Pakistan so that students can make comparison to what they hear/read from the news and what actually a country offers, what are the things that they have missed so far about Pakistan....and would hope to bridge the gap.
After having greetings in Korean and Urdu, I gave an overview of the history (old/new) of Pakistan and its geographical location. Briefly touched on creation of Pakistan and about its founder 'Jinnah'. I also covered briefly the Indus Valley Civilization, Gandhara, Taxila, Silk Road, Mounatin ranges ( famous mountains:K-2), Religions and history of Buddhism, different provinces - ethic groups, their respective food, traditions, languages and cultures (they were surprised to hear this because Korea is a monoetnic country). I also briefed them about the education system in Pakistan, uniforms of the public school for boys and girls was very intriguing for them, major exports, major crops and fruits, festivals and a Pakistani wedding ceremony including "Mehandi/Hinna culture" and its importance in Pakistan.

We learned about Urdu (the national language of Pakistan/ some call it Pakistani) and also practiced "Urdu alphabets" ( I showed them what Korean alphabets sounds we have in Urdu and vice versa) which they learned with great interest and they thought that "written Urdu" is like an art work ( I thought the same about Hangul (Korean language / I used to call it a language with a lot of zeros)! Students simply loved it. I wrote for them their names both in Hangul (Korean) and Urdu and they had a lot of fun with that.....the most interesting feature of Urdu for them was that we write Urdu from right to left. We learned a few Urdu words such as 'shukriya' which in Korean is Khamsa Hamnida, we learned the word father and mother in Urdu which goes like abba (abbu ji) and amma (ammi ji) in Urdu and they were surprised because the exact same words abbu ji and amma for father and mother are used in Korean language respectively. It wowed them!

We tried Pakistani jewellery, clothes , khussay....and girls loved it. I gave churiyan (bangles) to our model students of the day.

I wanted to make for them kebabs but due to some technical problems we switched to lassi (yogurt drink) which fit in our time limit. All students and teachers learned how to prepare lassi and also some variations of it as well as the traditional one with salt - I briefed them about the importance and health benefits of lassi.

We had a small Q&A and handed UNESCO souvenirs to the students.

The lecture composed of a PowerPoint that I prepared which included Photos of Pakistan!

Time allotted was 90 minutes but we extended it to a few more minutes.