The Jaseng Medical Foundation organized a traditional Korean medicine service and cultural performance to honor nurses who traveled to West Germany six decades ago and have returned to their homeland for the first time in half a century. The event paid tribute to the women — often called "white angels" — whose labor abroad helped lay the economic foundation of modern South Korea.
The foundation held the "2026 Korea-Germany Nurse 60th Anniversary Homecoming Commemoration" on Tuesday for 100 members of the Korean Nurses Association in Germany.
From 1966 through the 1970s, young Korean nurses boarded flights to Germany to support their families and seek new opportunities. They worked rotating three-shift schedules in hospitals where the language and culture were entirely foreign, and after grueling shifts they studied German to communicate with medical staff and patients. The foreign currency they earned was sent home to sustain their families and became a cornerstone of South Korea's economic development.
The foundation organized the event to express gratitude for that sacrifice and to give the nurses — who had spent decades caring for others — a chance to tend to their own health while visiting their homeland.
Earlier, the Jaseng Medical Foundation and the Korean Nurses Association in Germany signed an MOU in May on medical support for the nurses' 60th anniversary homecoming visit. Under the agreement, the foundation committed to providing healthcare during the nurses' stay in Korea and to joining commemorative social-contribution activities honoring their six decades of service.
The event opened with a traditional Korean medicine session at the Jaseng MediBio Center. The nurses were divided into four groups of 25 and received integrated Korean medicine treatments — including acupuncture, pharmacopuncture and chuna manipulation — from Jaseng Hospital physicians. Participants, many of whom had long endured musculoskeletal pain from years of ward work, reviewed their symptoms in detail with the medical staff. After their consultations, they toured the center to see firsthand the advances in Korean traditional medicine. Medical staff and the Bundang Jaseng Volunteer Corps assisted with on-site guidance and event operations.
After the medical session, the nurses strolled through Bundang Central Park bathed in autumn colors before attending a hanbok presentation ceremony. Dressed in the traditional Korean garments prepared by the Jaseng Volunteer Corps, they took commemorative photos with colleagues, creating lasting memories of their homecoming. The hanbok carries deep significance in their history: the nurses who first set foot in Germany in 1966 arrived in hanbok, drawing the attention of locals, and throughout their years abroad they would bring out the garments to ease their longing for home.
The commemorative program continued with a performance by the Jaseng Windream Wind Orchestra and a flower presentation ceremony. A highlight was a video screening of a recitation of "White Angel," a poem written by Jaseng Hospital founder Shin Jun-sik — who is also an active poet — capturing the nurses' dedication. The nurses rounded out their special day in their homeland by watching the performances and enjoying a banquet dinner.
"We are deeply grateful that you have not forgotten the time when we left our families and hometowns behind to go to Germany in our youth, and that you have welcomed us so warmly," said Park So-hyang, president of the Korean Nurses Association in Germany. "Being able to put on hanbok and share memories with colleagues in our homeland after 60 years — and to have our health looked after as well — is something I think we will remember for a very long time."
Shin Min-sik, chairman of the Jaseng Medical Foundation's social contribution committee, said he wished to convey deep respect to the nurses who had devoted themselves to their families and country while tending to patients far from home. "I hope this event has been an opportunity for them to finally attend to their own health, which they have long put off, and to feel the warmth of their homeland," he said.
kty@heraldcorp.com
