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The chaos theory of Mongolia

I returned to Mongolia 15 years ago after an absence of 13 years, save for the occasional 2-week leave from work, and that time I spent a semester and a half at a local university drinking endless cups of brown, watery 150 Tugrik instant MaCcoffee at the cafĂ© strangely, or perhaps egotistically, named "In my memory", writing the first and so far the only book that got us into trouble with the local intelligence who apparently had little else to do than to pore through the ramblings of teenagers to catch the tell-tale signs of drug dealery. But I digress. When you visit a country for a short period, be it home or not, you hardly have time to immerse yourself in the spirit of the country and the city and feel the nitty gritty and dirty shiny of it all. So after 13 years, it took me a while to readjust and finally understand what the hometown of my childhood had become.  The most striking, ubiquitous, and inescapable feature was and still, unfortunately, is the traffic. In 2008,...

Illegal Immigrants from Mongolia Save Lives in Korea

News from Digital Chosunilbo, a Korean online newspaper
Four illegal Mongolian migrant workers who rescued 11 people from a fire in Sindorim-dong, Seoul last month will be allowed to stay in Korea, the Justice Ministry said Thursday. It is first case where foreigners have been permitted to stay in recognition of a contribution to Korean society under a new regulation in the immigration laws. The four will now have access to hospitals and get a legal job. The ministry said the four “deserve the permission considering their toil and sacrifice."
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Some people have written into to Chosun, arguing that seeing as they have saved 11 people's lives, they should be given Permanent Resident status in Korea. South Korea currently has the largest population of illegal Mongolian workers. In fact, it may have the largest population of Mongolian citizens outside of Mongolia, some 28,000 to 30,000. Some legal and some illegal.

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