S

hin Don-cheol, a South Korean artist, got to know Jakarta for the first time in the middle of the 1990s when his plane from Bali to Seoul was grounded in Jakarta for 24 hours due to engine trouble. A friend who happened to live in Jakarta took him around to see the city.

He liked the city very much and later decided to return to make a living as an art teacher. He remained in the city despite the political troubles following the economic crisis. He first taught the children of South Korean expatriates and over time his school also attracted students of various nationalities.

He and his family enjoy living in Jakarta despite its traffic jams, heat, etc, calling the city their "second home".

Shin is one among tens of thousands of South Koreans who have been living in Indonesia for years, doing business in the country, introducing South Korean culture and hard-working ethics to Indonesia. They are evidence of growing Indonesia-South Korea relations.

State relations between Indonesia and South Korea have evolved over more than four decades following the signing of a bilateral treaty marking the beginning of diplomatic ties in 1966.

Along with the improvement in political ties, economic cooperation has also significantly improved. The two countries make the best of the opportunities to complement one another - Indonesia with its natural resources, manpower and wide and active market, while Korea has advantages in capital and technology.

With more and more tourists coming to the country, and more and more businesspeople traveling to the country, either as workers of South Korean multinational corporations or small and middle entrepreneurs, many of whom have eventually decided to live in the country, South Korean culture has been steadily infiltrating Indonesia.

Now, many Indonesians like South Korean food as much as local cuisine.

According to government statistics, about 30,000 Koreans live in Indonesia. Most of them are in Jakarta, while the rest live in Surabaya (1,200), Bandung (600), Bali (150) and other cities (550). Every year, about 220,000 Koreans travel to Indonesia for business or pleasure, or both.

"Koreans and Indonesians have better relations, not only in terms of culture, but also in business. Korean businesspeople who invest in Indonesia also have better relations with the local workers," commissioner of PT Sonergy, Cho Hoshin, said.

He admitted that before 1998, relations between Korean businesspeople in Indonesia and their local workers were often marked with protests and demonstrations due to a lack of attention to workers' rights.

However, after the 1998 monetary crisis, Korean businesspeople began to improve the relations and pay more attention to workers' rights and needs.

"Therefore, the number of workers who stage protests or demonstrations has decreased, allowing Koreans and Indonesians to have closer relations," he said.

Some Korean companies even provide their workers with relatively large benefits. "Every year, Korean companies give holiday allowances more than what is required by the Indonesian government," he said.

He said that Koreans feel that Indonesia is a very lucky country because of its rich, beautiful nature and abundance in oil, gas and mining resources.

"It is not like Korea, which suffered from civil war for decades and only has a little natural richness," Cho said.

He said that Korean investors are interested in Indonesia because it is rich in mining resources, oil and gas. Besides, Indonesians are well known for their friendliness and they are easy going, which is one of the reasons why Koreans love living in Indonesia.

"They prefer Indonesia than other Asian countries like China," he said.

Meanwhile, the Korean Ambassador to Indonesia Kim Ho-young hopes that the two countries will have better relations, especially following the visit of President Lee Myung-bak to Indonesia in March and the visit of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Korea in June this year.

In order to introduce Korean culture to Indonesians, Kim said a Korean Cultural Center would open in Jakarta next year.

Kim also said that Korea would try to present Indonesian culture in his country so that the people would also learn about it.

"Indonesia and the Republic of Korea have something in common in terms of culture, and both countries should introduce their culture to each other so as to create intercultural understanding," he said.

In Jakarta, many Koreans live in Kelapa Gading and Sunter (North Jakarta), Cibubur (East Jakarta), Bogor, Cikarang, and Tangerang. There are quite a lot of Koreans in Tangerang, especially in Lippo Village, where 80 percent of the business areas like shops, restaurants, jimjilbang (Korean spa), and karaoke (noraebang) have a Korean flavor.

Koreans who live in Tangerang mostly work at manufacturing companies, while those in Bekasi work in the electronics industry.

Koreans have lived in Indonesia for quite a long time. The Jakarta International Korean School in East Jakarta opened on Feb. 1, 1975, and is still in operation.

It is the biggest Korean international school in Southeast Asia with the number of students twice as many as the one in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

A Little Korea in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, began to emerge in 1982, when a Korean, Kim Woo-jae, opened a Korean restaurant, selling kimchi and doenjang.

The Indonesian chapter of the Korean Muslim Federation was established in 1982. It sponsored 22 Korean Muslims in 1983 and 1984 to study Islam in various universities in Indonesia.

Aside from doing business, what do South Koreans do in Indonesia?

"Koreans are avid golfers. Every time I go to a golf course and spot someone really good, I wonder if they may be Korean. Most of the time they are," Shin said

Another popular hobby among the Korean community is to try out a variety of Indonesian food, particularly hot and spicy dishes. "Our housemaid is very good at cooking Korean food. Sometimes she also cooks Indonesian specialties like satay, ayam kalasan and soto ayam for the family," Shin's wife said.

Korean and Indonesian families have similarities in their way of raising children, according to Shin.

"In some aspects, Korean and Indonesian parents share a similar mentality and point of view in raising children. Not only do parents expect good academic results from their young, they also put them in extracurricular lessons to look for potential talents, be it in arts, music or science."