[6][7] The ability of Mongolians to "pass" as Korean makes it easier for them than for other foreigners resident illegally to escape casual notice.
[8] Some also run restaurants, trading companies, and grocery stores in Seoul, especially in the so-called "Central Asia Village" in Jung-gu's Gwanghui-dong, near Dongdaemun.
Demand to take the test is extremely high; for the 2007 sitting, some candidates queued for four days in chaotic conditions outside Ulan Bator's Central Stadium in May to register.
A total of 14,929 candidates (9,892 men and 5,037 women) signed up for the test that year, of whom 14,606 actually sat for it; 44% (6,487) scored higher than 120 points, while 91% met the minimum mark for agriculture, fishing, and construction.
This trend was believed to have begun between the late 1990s and early 2000s after the 1997 Asian financial crisis rage, when one Mongolian working in South Korea sent a car back to his homeland.
[15] Mongolians living in South Korea cite the age-based hierarchy of the Korean social structure as a major cultural difference with their homeland and a significant barrier to adaptation, noting that in Mongolia, people with age differences of five years still speak to one another as equals, but in Korea, they are obligated to use honorific forms of speech to address people even one year older than them.