Westdeutsche technische Hilfe in Südkorea während der 1960/70er-Jahre – am Beispiel der Berufsschulen in Incheon und Naju

Abstract

This research gives insight into the technical assistance provided by West Germany to South Korea during the 1960s and early 1970s, focusing on the vocational schools in Incheon and Naju. Both schools were run as partner projects: While the German side dispatched experts and sent technical equipment, the Koreans provided the school buildings and counterpart teachers. On-site, conflicts between the German and Korean actors involved — but also among the German experts themselves — arose due to different expectations and ideas on development and vocational education. The focus in the latter was on practical training for skilled laborers, which was not conducted in-plant according to the German dual system but in the schools themselves. At the same time, value education and German-language instruction were enforced — revealing the German-centered nature of the assistance provided. After graduation, most students worked in factories near their hometown, while a few had the chance to receive further training in Germany. The two schools can be regarded as the first step toward close cooperation between Korea and Germany in the vocational education sector thereafter and up until the present.