Martin Hyun

former hockey player, German Ice-Hockey League

Martin Hyun was born in 1979 in Krefeld, Germany. After a professional career in the German Ice-Hockey League (DEL), he went on to study political science in the USA (St. Michael's College, VT) and Belgium. After doing a PhD on migrant workers he committed himself to working for various immigrant organizations and projects, among others, the Intercultural Dialogue Europe, the Bertelsmann Foundation's Leadership Program for Managers from Immigrant Organizations or the German Federal President's Forum on Demographic Change. In 2008 he published his first book: *Lautlos-Ja Sprachlos-Nein: Grenzganger zwischen Deutschland und Korea* (*Soundless-Yes, Speechless: No. Border Crossings Between Germany and Korea*). It is based on his own expierence and deals with the integration of Korean guest-workers in Germany -- a book that is equally moving as it is informative, a highly acclaimed debut work of Martin Hyun. Among immigrants in Germany, the Koreans are a relatively unknown minority, often confused with Chinese or Japanese immigrants. Martin Hyun describes the typical stereotypes he's confronted with (kamikaze, rice eaters) and analyzes why Koreans are so exemplary in integrating into German society. Mr. Hyun has - for the first time - given voice to the feelings of these wanderers between the two worlds of Korea and Germany who tend to have been somewhat overlooked by society due to their inconspicuousness. Martin Hyun ist Sohn koreanischer Gastarbeiter und wurde 1979 in Krefeld geboren. Heute ist er Wahlberliner, nach er Politik bzw. International Relations an der englischen Universitt von Kent zu Canterbury und am St. Michael s College, im US-Bundesstaat Vermont studierte. Martin Hyun geht auf die typischen Klischees ein, mit denen er konfrontert wurde: "Schlitzaugen, Reisfresser, Kamikaze" und analysiert, warum gerade die Deutsch-Koreaner als Musterbeispiel vorbildlicher Integration gelten. Der ehemalige Integrationsbotschafter und Politikwissenschaftler hat sein Grenzgngertum jetzt zum Thema eines Buches gemacht, indem er mit scharfem Blick und viel Humor seine eigene und die Situation seiner Landsleute beschreibt: ist ein politisches Sachbuch mit Integrationsthematik.