UBLove's bad idea.

An email from UBLove sent to its members:

Hello UBmember, from the UBLove Team.

We are searching now for any native English speaking males who met native Korean female members for friends, pen pals, dates or marriage.
We are going to be hosting a show on Korean cable, channel TVN about UBLove members and would like to conduct an interview.
For your trouble we will give a generous monetary amount to cover your date expenses.

Every month this event will interview and feature different international couples globally.
We hope that you participate and have a chance to let others know about your experiences.
Also why not receive money for your dating expenses.

This months theme concept is Native English speaking males who have met Native Korean females in Korea.
We are looking for a couple who are in Korea.
If you came to Korea for business, work, travel, study, etc. all are welcome to participate.
Please contact us if you are in Korea or plan on being in Korea,
5/15/08 ~5/20/08.
Also please make sure that you can meet your Korean female friend as well.

Also if you are selected for this event, you will be featured and interviewed with your Korean female friend on Korean cable TV.
The channel is TVN and the name of the show is VJ Magazine Run!
You will need to visit the studio on 6/3/08 for your TV recording.

The TV show VJ Magazine Run is targeted at viewers below 30 and the theme of the show will be called Meeting a Foreigner Friend.
It will showcase different ways to meet Foreign friends and one of them is through online sites.
They will interview you and youll become a famous TV personality instantly.

Those that are interested in participating in the TV show, please write us a brief e-mail introducing yourself and your story.
Also please include the dates that youll be in Korea.
You can e-mail us your entry story through the UBLove site at Q&A or send us an e-mail at support@ublove.com

The event prize will be $200 cash for your dating expenses.

We look forward to many members participating in this event.
Thanks for your support, UBLove Team.

Yes, I have been a member of that site for a while. I used to chat a lot my first year, and it was a good way to practice some rudimentary Korean grammar. Also met a couple of interesting people. However, nowadays my inbox over there does nothing but collect spam. Plus everyone on that site is either in Seoul, Gyeonggi, or eastern Europe, and certainly not in Jeollanam-do. Also weird that I've bumped into two coworkers on that site, including one looking for a casual dating partner even though she has a steady Canadian boyfriend, hahaha. I don't how it is for other provinces, but those representing "Ch'ollanam-to" on the site aren't necessarily unattractive . . . they're just in at the level that would make them ideal candidates to dance in the background of a trot concert.

Anyway, I titled this "bad idea" because foreign men and Korean women are not well-received, to say the least, by the Korean (and Korean-American) media and public, in spite of the nominal approval of international couples and the increasing frequency with which they occur. Some examples here and and here and here and here and here and here.


Cartoon about womanizing English teacher, via Mongdori.

But things are changing, as we can see when we contrast today with this 1998 New York Times article:

A Korean woman who holds hands with a Western man risks being occasionally harangued, called a ''whore,'' or even slapped or spat upon. This is becoming less common, but even so, part of the reason Mr. Dressler's girlfriend bought a car was so that they can get around Seoul without risking public ire.

The sensitivities have become more visible in part because South Korea has the American troops and in part because thousands of other young Westerners have come here, often working as English teachers. Most of them are young, single and male, unfamiliar with South Korean customs and thrilled to be surrounded by what they perceive as throngs of gorgeous and eligible young women.

As a homogeneous country with a deep and prickly sense of nationalism, developed during centuries of invasions by neighbors, Korea is often suspicious of foreign intentions -- a suspicion that historically has usually been justified. Thus while there are exceptions, for many Koreans the idea of interracial dating seems an affront to Korean patriotism and to ''pure'' blood lines. The antagonisms are particularly deep when the American is black, as many of the soldiers are.

''A Korean woman must never date or marry a foreign guy,'' said Kim Hee Sup, a 34-year-old male office worker. ''All Koreans should try to maintain racial purity.''

Oooo . . . bad example. Anyway, this is only tangentially related, and I'll get blasted as being overly negative for posting it, but I couldn't resist invoking this exchange between North and South Korean military men a couple years ago:

Last Wednesday, major-generals from North and South Korea were chatting before a second day of tough talks on border security. The North's Major-General Kim Yong-chul noted that farmers must be hard at work. Indeed, replied South Korea's Major-General Han Min-gu. But since the rural population is falling, many are marrying women from Mongolia, the Philippines, Vietnam and elsewhere.

That did not go down well. According to the Seoul daily Chosun Ilbo, Kim grimaced and snapped that "our nation has always considered its pure lineage to be of great importance."

Far from challenging him, Han replied that this is "but a drop of ink in the Han River."

Kim was unmollified: "Not even one drop of ink must be allowed to fall into the Han river."

Hmm, curious you don't have many Korean-American groups protesting those attitudes found in their motherland.