Fuck you Anti-English Spectrum.

Yeah, really, fuck you. There's this in the Korea Times:

A Civic group said that its actions to expel illegal English teachers will help upgrade the image of legal foreign educators.

The group, named ``Citizens' Association for Lawful English Education,'' has some 16,000 members on its Web site (cafe.naver.com/englishspectrum).

That URL was a dead give away of what that group is all about. The cafe used to be called "Anti-English Spectrum," but I guess it dressed itself up as of late and replaced the old banner of a wet t-shirt contest with a new one of small children writing their ABCs. This cafe is as much an image upgrade as a kick in the face is a nose job, and I may have to eventually take the KT to task for this very one-sided profile on a domestic hate group. If you don't recall what "Spectrumgate" was about, refer to this Marmot's Hole post. Essentially some netizens became enraged about some posts on a former incarnation of "English Spectrum," including threads about how to seduce Korean women. There were also some threads featuring advertisements of, and pictures from, biracial clubs and wet t-shirt contests. That Marmot's Hole thread has tons of information, including translations of what was passed around the internet, what was said on Anti-English Spectrum, and even some interviews with two of the girls in the compromising photos (whose answers might surprise you). I'll just say that it's always terribly ironic when Korean men develop the sudden urge to protect their women.

Anyway, according to The Marmot's Hole, one of the internet reactions to all this was a "Counter-Yankee Strike Force":

The Korean portal site Daum has also started a petition signing campaign to expel “low-quality foreign teachers.” They’re looking for 10,000 signatures, and they’ve got about 3,931. The campaign is also recruiting a “[Counter-] Yankee Strike Force.” They say the use of violence is prohibited, but they’d like to get together and hold a protest demonstration. There targets are 1) the “Yankee bastards” who put up the instructions on how to molest female students, and their accomplices; 2) the “Yankee bastards” who threw the wild party in Hongik; 3) the club owner; 4) institute owners who hire ex-cons or under-qualified teachers; 5) as a “bonus,” drunk GIs who might be in the Shinchon area starting fights with local citizens. Membership is open to all Korean nationals (no kyopos allowed, apparently — perhaps the organizers read this) with “wholesome thoughts (more like worldview).” They’ll meet at 6:00 p.m. Saturday near the front gate of Hongik. Be there… or be square.

Violence was prohibited, hahaha, but the anger and aggression around that time became so great that the U.S. Embassy in Korea issued a warning on January 21, 2005:

Recently, inflammatory sexual content was posted to a website for English language teachers in Korea. That posting together with subsequent postings were taken by some to demean Korean women. We have noted recently, strong reaction in the form of web postings threatening attacks in the vicinity of Hongik University and the Sinchon area against Americans and other foreigners who speak English. All Americans and their families (especially young adults) are encouraged to exercise prudence and caution when visiting these neighborhoods. The Embassy advises that inappropriate social behavior in public may be seen as provocative by Korean nationals.

Like the anti-American protests of 2002 and 2003, this Spectrumgate garbage is something to remind us of just how ugly our neighbors can be when they put their minds to hate-mongering.