This morning a couple Korean blogs have started linking to me as well as the "Candlegirls" cafe. The Candlegirls site links to me as a "촛불시위를 비하하는 외국인강사." Another blog, in an entry called "광우병 촛불집회를 비하하는 외국인," has posted my name, blog, and Facebook page, as well as the information of the Gwangju News, and has reposted the article I wrote in this month's issue. It also includes the name, school, and contact information of my editor, and has directed readers to email our employers. I'll copy and paste what they wrote in case the link changes.
안녕하세요. 제가 이렇게 글을 올리게 된 계기는 최근에 광주 전남지역 국제교류센터의 외국인들과 지역 영어교육인들을 대상으로 발간되는 ‘Gwangju News’라는 잡지에서, 국내의 광우병 촛불시위 그리고 더 나아가 한국인들을 너무 심하게 조롱하고 있는 한 외국인의 글을 보고 너무 분통이 터져서입니다. 한국인들의 촛불시위가 광우병에 대한 과장과 잘못된 정보, 그리고 그것을 확대하는 정치인과 언론때문이고, 한국 중고학생들은 주체적인 생각없이 그냥 그런 잘못된 정보를 믿고 우르르 거리로 나온 것 뿐이라고 하네요. 그리고 한국에서 광우병으로 병거리고 죽을 확률보다 교통사고로 죽을 확률이 훨씬 많다면서, 광우병 신경쓸 에너지 있으면, 교통사고 문제나 더 신경쓰라고 합니다. 이 글의 저자 Brian Deutsch은 그 전 ‘남대문 화재’ 및 ‘박진희의 코리아나’ 관련 기사에서도 계속 한국에 관해 비아냥거리는 글을 올려서 제가 항의메일을 보냈지만, 이번 기사에서 보여지듯이 아무런 태도의 변화를 보이지 않고, 오히려 노골적으로 더욱 한국을 비하하고 있습니다. 그리고 실제에 이 사람 블러그에 가시면 훨씬 많은 한국을 비하하는 글들을 볼 수 있을 것입니다. 이 밖에 이 잡지의 이번 호에서는 한 주한미군 장교가 ‘효순,미순’의 장갑차 사건을 다루면서, 그 사건은 단순히 교통사고 발생 위험성이 높은 지역에서 우연히 발생한 한 사건이었을 뿐인데, 몇몇 선동가들이 지나치게 사건을 확대시켰다고 주장하고 있습니다. 한국에대해 이렇게 몰이해적이고 한국인을 비아냥 거리는 글들이 계속 실리는데는 이 잡지의 편집장인 JS의 책임이 크다고 할 것입니다. 심지어 저를 비롯한 여러 한국사람들이 반론을 보냈음에도 한국인들의 의견은 무시하고 일방적으로 편협하고 한국을 비아냥 거리는 외국인의 글들을 계속 출간하고 있으니까요. 무엇보다도 제가 기분이 나쁜 것은 이렇게 한국을 비하하는 한국인들이 한국에서 한국인들에게 자기들의 모국어를 가르치면서 많은 돈을 벌면서, 한국과 한국인을 비웃고 있다는 것입니다.이런 몰지각한 외국인의 버릇을 고쳐주기위해서 여러분의 힘이 필요하다고 생각합니다. 먼저 편집장인 JS의 근무처인 xx대와 그녀의 email에 항의합시다. 그리고 순천에 계시는 분들은 Brian Deutsch이 어느 학교나 학원에 근무하는지 확인해서 항의 부탁드립니다. 그리고 그들의 블러그에도 적극적인 항의 부탁드립니다. 한국에 있는 외국인의 시각도 교정하지 못한다면, 어떻게 미국의 부시의 버릇을 잡아주겠습니까?[출처] 광우병 촛불집회를 비하하는 외국인|작성자 개나리꽃It's also mirrored here. I'd appreciate it if somebody could translate what this says. [Update: Rough translation here, thanks "Juicy."] Running it through Babelfish it looks like this guy has taken issue with my tone in several articles and originally sent a letter to the Gwangju News that was apparently ignored (I myself haven't received any feedback on my latest article). Apparently the guy is also upset that I'm criticizing the country that employs me. And, it looks like they want to find out my school and send letters of protest there, too. I'm curious, though, if these people actually took the time to read what I've written, or if they just jumped to conclusions based on the topic. Regardless, I'm sure we'll be getting tons of emails now, and any inflammatory or threatening ones that come my way will be shared with you here.
* Update 1 (Saturday, June 14, 11:03): Somehow the original poster "개나리꽃이 필때" found out where I work and put that information online.
* Update 2: I discovered the identity of the original poster, and the one who posted all of our information online but I don't think I should post it just yet, because we'd like to investigate this and potentially press charges. Posting the name and information as retribution would perhaps damage any case we have, especially since we're disadvantaged already as foreigners. Needless to say I think you will be quite shocked to find out who it is.
* Update 3 (June 15, 17:30): Okay, so maybe you won't be "shocked" but it's from a surprising source. I can't say anything right now, though I am really itching to do a full write-up as soon as I can because while it came from what is apparently a no-name blogger, I can assure you it's not a random attack, and I am absolutely furious about this and the response from what I'll call "his corner." Thanks for all of your comments. I'm too busy to respond to everyone right now. I have taken out my colleague's name from the original post, and taken out her school. Also, looks like a commenter alerted the blogger to a post on Dave's about this. Yes, he's right, we are all planning a response now.
* Update 4 (Monday June 16, 18:30): The blogger changed it from the original message to:
여러분의 많은 지지 덕분에,
광주 전남지역 국제교류센터의 외국인들과 지역 영어교육인들을 대상으로 발간되는 ‘Gwangju News’에서
'광우병 위험성이 있는 미국쇠고기 수입에 반대하는 한국인의 의견'을 다음달 호에 올리기로 결정했습니다.
한국에 있는 많은 외국인 친구들에게 우리의 생각과 의견을 알릴 수 있도록,
영어 실력이 출중하신 많은 분들이 아래의 메일로 '광우병 위험성이 있는 미국쇠고기 수입에 반대하는 이유'를 보내 주셨으면 합니다.
여러분의 이런 소중한 노력이 국내 외국인들을 설득시키고, 나아가 미국에서의 국내 입장에 대한 좋은 여론을 조성하는데, 소중한 역할을 할 것이라고 생각됩니다. 그럼 ~~^^
Also wanted to remind people that this little campaign was against two foreigners, not just me, and that he's made life quite difficult for us the past three days. I plan to do a full write-up on this whole ordeal, sooner rather than later I hope, once things get back to normal and get resolved a little bit. Sorry, Roboseyo, I don't have a mystery guest blogger, and the culprit isn't Scott Hall.
* Update 5 (July 2, 2008, 13:47): I've written a lengthy update here.
Posts
48 comments:
I wish you to read my comment to the last article.
And also I would like to say this.
the lie ,which you called in that article, is not just a lie or rumor.
2 or 3 years ago, one doctor researched that idea. And he concluded like that.
If you want, I will find the article about the doctor. He is not a amatuer.
After finding that article, I will attach to this blog with traslating.
김 학장은 2004년 5월 유전자 관련 해외 학술지인 ‘저널 오브 휴먼 제네틱스’에 ‘한국인 프리온 단백질 유전자의 다형성질(Polymorphisms of the prion protein gene in a Korean population)’이란 논문을 발표했다. 논문에서 김 학장은 건강한 한국인 529명의 ‘프리온’ 유전자를 분석했다. 프리온은 광우병을 일으키는 단백질이다. 그 결과 한국인의 94.3%가 MM(메티오닌-메티오닌) 유전자를 갖고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 미국이나 영국은 인구의 약 40%가 메티오닌-메티오닌 유전자를 갖고 있다. 지금까지 확인된 인간 광우병 환자는 모두 MM 유전자를 갖고 있었다.
http://blog.daum.net/skshin/15879446
The main story of this article is that 94.3% of Korean people have the - MM - gene. And 40% of American and english have the MM gene.
But unfortunately all of mad cow disease victims have the -MM- gene.
This doctor graduated from the catholic university in Korea and also New York state university.
He got the dgree of doctor from the mad cow disease team of the New York State Island Brain Disease Research Center about CJD.
The name of research center could be different, because I just translate the Korean word.
Brian
The gist of the post (written by gaenari flower, who I assume is a female) is that you are a condescending foreigner that belittles Korea. She's especially pissed about how you criticize the student protesters as misinformed and manipulated. Also she implies that you (and foreign teachers in general) complain about Korea despite making a ton of profit there teaching your native language. My favorite line - "If we can't correct the direction (I can't quite translate 시각) of foreigners here in Korea, how can we correct the behavior of President Bush?"
A couple notes of concern - Gaenari Flower asks her readers to find out if you attend a school in "Soonchun" and um, complain. I think she hints at her readers to make an effort to have you fired, although she never quite goes that far. She also mentions Jessica Solomanteko as a target of protest. She's apparently a publisher of some magazine that featured opinions that criticize Korea. Does she publish your work?
Juuno is citing scientific data that's been debunked. Thousands of Korean Americans (unless you can prove our DNA is altered once we move to the United States) consume US beef daily and not a single MDC fatality has been reported.
Korean Americans eat U.S. beef and they don't have mad cow.
That's one reason why the mentality behind the protests are dumb and that's one reason why THE REST OF THE WORLD is looking at the protesters as weak-minded, uninformed idiots.
As lee stated, that 'science' that junno posted has been proven false, by the one who put it out and by the station who reported it the first time. There is no such thing as a 'Korean mad cow gene'. If there were, thousands of KA's would be dying of mad cow over here in the states.
If they don't want to be looked at as uninformed sheep, then they should stop acting that way. And if we are sooo evil then I better not find out that one of those protesters is visiting here or going to school over here...
And Brian, don't worry about those nuts. Their discombobulated tactics won't work. Their economy is falling to pieces, their brothers in the North are trying to survive on grass soup under a REAL DICTATOR, but this is what they raise their candles and put their energy into?
And they wonder why people think they're loony, batty nimble brains right now???!
They're so all over the place 'protest this, protest that, no over here! protest this, no over here protest that!' Geez...Doing something, but accomplishing a whole lot of nothing.
Wow. The netizen bullies are after Brian.
I haven't felt unsafe at all, strolling around the protests in Seoul, but the way the netizens get mean online, and personal, so fast, is kind of disgusting to me, and the thing it reminds me of the most are the flag-waving Chinese intimidating anybody who disagreed with them into silence, during the Olympic torch relay. (remember that?) I mean, now that we're using comparisons (LMB and Chung Doo-Hwan, Mad Cow with the Armoured Car incident, Sungnyemun with 9/11), I may as well drop a comparison into the mix. --both are equally insulting to the idea of free speech, in my opinion.
by the way: hang in there.
Vir prudens non contra ventum mingit. But some have it in their genes. :-) You have my sympathies.
Dang, if I'm going to be surprised at the identity of the person who is possibly committing a criminal act against you, I REALLY want to know who it is!
Yeah. Now I'm sitting here making outlandish guesses about who it is, as if it were an episode of WWE Raw:
do you have a tag-team partner we don't know about? is there another brian blogging in jeollanam-do who's mad that you're stealing all his google search hits?
(hope the levity doesn't come across as crass, given the circumstances)
Thanks for going to the trouble of summarizing the comments, Lee. BTW, "gaenari" in English is a forsythia.
I respect your integrity in blogging under your real name, but unfortunately, it does make you vulnerable to netizen bullying. At least the Gwanju paper was professional enough to realize a foreign blogger critical of Korea is not newsworthy in the least unless the blogger gets millions of hits a day.
Remember, you're in a country where a foreign professor lost his job for blogging about Dokdo.
Brian,
Netizens are, like most people, unfocused and lazy. This will all pass in time. I had my run-ins with them last year, and nothing ever comes of it.
There are six comments (three by the same person) following the post at Forsythia Flower. None of them are angry at you, and most are advising others to tolerate diverse opinions or at least ignore them.
Brian. This is a quick and dirty translation of the idiot's post.
Not all Koreans share this guy's (or girl's) ire. Keep up the good work.
--
Greetings, I am posting because of the recent article on Gwangju News that covers foreign educators in Gwangju that has angered and frustrated me to no end by outrageously ridiculing the Mad Cow candlelight vigils and the Koreans who participate in them. The article states that the mad cow protest has no scientific basis and that the Koreans are sheeps that brainlessly follow the erroneous propaganda without due diligence, fanned along the process by political interests. The poster specifically said that people stand greater chance of dying in a traffic accident than from the mad cow disease and that Koreans should mind the traffics more than the mad cow. I have previously protested Brian Deutsche's baseless and condescending rants on the Namdaemum fire and the Coreana cosmetics without effect and he apparently has not changed his negative view on Korea and has in fact increased his venom. If you go to his blog, you'll find plenty of other posts that denigrate Korea. The magazine also covered the armored car (tank?) incident, insisting that it was blown out of proportion despite being an accident that could have occurred in any other high risk traffic areas. I place a bulk of blame on the editor Jessica Solomatenko for allowing such garbage that criticize and denigrate Koreans to be printed. Although I am not the only Korean to protest the content, she continues to allow foreigners who insist on criticizing and denigrating Korea and Koreans a voice. What galls me the most is that these foreigners are growing fat and rich in Korea teaching their native tongue while making fun of the same people who are paying their wages. I need your (other Koreans') help in correcting this kind of behaviors from foreigners. I would like you to e-mail the editor Jessica Solotenko and those of you who are local to Sunchun should track down this Brian Deutsche and find out which school or hagwon he teaches in. You can assist me when you find that information. I seek full and unfettered cooperation in my campaign to correct this foreigner's behavior. If we cannot do that to a foreigner on our own soil, how can we hope to correct the behavior of US President Bush?
--
Juicy,
Nice translation. Thanks heaps for that.
Brian,
Got to point out the obvious here:
I have no idea of the science of this all, one way or another (except that I know the scientist who said Koreans had some special gene making Korean predisposed to getting m.c.d. said people had gotten his findings out of context).
But I am an equal opportunity cynic - I believe that even though there have been no 'reported' cases of m.c.d., there may well have been some in the US (where the governments seems to be acting against enforcing checking and safety standards... why IS that..?) and here (where I take the point that there is also a really slack state of checking and enforcing of standards); and while there have been no reported deaths so far, we all know it takes like 15 years for the condition to affect one to that extent... as it is still doing around the world (two people died in... was it Spain, this week?); so, to a certain extent, I do reckon fears are warranted.
But then again, while being an equal opportunity cynic, I'm also an equal opportunity free speech advocate.
I completely support the right of Korean people to march in the streets and demand higher standards of meat. (One can question their implicit lack of faith in the political system - this is a pretty standard *representative* democracy - and I take the point that it is seeming to work a lot better than the alternative up the road.)
But at the end of the day,
at the bottom line:
if they have the right to march in the streets and block traffic for nights on end,
what in the hell is wrong with one blog where you quietly question certain aspects of logic and rationale?
If Korean logic and science was so bullet proof on this whole topic, couldn't your online attacker simply state their replies and make us all see the light?
(It's enough to make me wonder if it isn't all North Korean communist spies coordinating all the m.c.d. hysterics trying to destablise the nation.)
It seems that anyone who speaks against the masses here are in deep trouble. Look at the radio host who commented on the vigils. She had to apologize and then lost her job. The Korean school teacher who said something different about US beef other than it was dangerous. That teacher got in trouble.The protestors have been saying that they go out in the name of democracy. It's seems that you are with us or against us mentality. Blogs will become more important in the future. The pen is mightier than than the sword. But the blog will knock your socks off. Keep up the good work!!
Good post, Brian. Keep at it, and continue to be unintimidated.
Jeffery Hodges
* * *
I think Koreans have turned a corner on all this. The more reasonable ones are starting to wonder where this entire enterprise is headed. When something comes along to distract Koreans (Please Japan, do something) and the anti-US thing peters out, I'd like to know who gave you up.
By the way, "Candlegirls" just sounds soooo kinky!
Hang in there, Brian.
It takes a lot of courage to do what you do, writing your honest opinion in the face of such unthinking opposition.
Don't let this stop you blogging. That be a shame to let them get to you.
Jesus, that's an ugly little post over there. Obviously, the fact that they're trying to track you down, so to speak, is cause for concern, and something you may wish to take legal action against should it become a problem.
That said, while the netizens have their moments, they're not all off their rockers. Naver.com allows foreigners to register, so go over there and comment --- be polite but assertive. Otherwise, don't freak out about it too much --- I got some attention earlier in the protests from DCinside, and a fairly prominent blogger with Daum and the Chosun Ilbo used my blog as a launching point for a (albeit fairly sympathetic) look at how foreigners look at the protest. It'll probably pass, even if the "let's track down the uppity foreigner and correct his behavior" rhetoric is, well, highly unfortunate.
Let me know if I can help at all.
Oooh no.. Some protester showed up. Hehe.. Don't be too intimidated by them. That person was probably looking for something (anything?) foreign and Korea-centered to attack.
It's easier to post "hate" online because everyone can be anonymous. So congratulations in finding out who the person is.
I read the translation by Juicy (thanks!) He doesn't really get your point and is is very ill-tempered against US to begin with.
I'm reminded of the Allegory of the Cave.
Hang in there Brian. Don't let the nutizens get to you.
Koreans are NOT more susceptible to Mad Cow from eating beef, according to the Korean scientist being referenced.
They are more susceptible only to the spontaneously arising form of the disease.
He has already voiced his disapproval of the Korean media's distortion of his research.
If you have a little ability in English, research the science IN ENGLISH. The Korean media & internet are not printing the truth.
The Korean scientist you refer to stated KOREANS ARE NOT MORE SUSCEPTIBLE to catching mad cow from eating beef. This gene only makes them more susceptible from the spontaneously arising form of the disease.
This scientist has voiced his opposition to misusing his research to mislead the Korean public.
If you have a little English reading ability, use it to research the science in English. Korean sources are falsifying the issue.
The researcher who said 94.3% of Koreans have the MM gene also said Koreans are NOT more susceptible to getting the disease from eating beef.
The science of the issue is clear - there is no risk of Mad Cow associated with US beef.
If you can read a little English, research this in English. The Korean sources are falsifying the issue.
How in the world do they think they can 'correct' someone's behavior? That's not 'democratic', that's autocratic?
They can't control what people think, say, write. They can probably punk other Koreans into that mindless madness, but people who know better are not going to change their opinion because it hurts your feelings.
Koreans want to be a 1st world country, but they can't handle it, if they can't handle criticism.
It seems, in terms of products, Korea is a democracy or '1st world', but it terms of the people and the way of thinking, their way of being, Korea is still 'the hermit kingdom'.
Their 1st world status is a hoax. Their still 3rd world in all other areas and they have Confucius to thank for it.
Just commenting on the correcting the behavior translation. A more accurate translation would be to "rein in a (bad) habit." It has a very strong connotation of a superior correcting an inferior's propensity for misdeeds, to bring him in line with the accepted norm, to make him conform to the established customs and mores. Needless to say, it is a preposterously presumptuous comment.
But the comment does give some insight to the on-going mad cow protest. It's less about the beef and more about the perceived subservient role that the Korean administration is taking in this trade deal. The power behind the protest -- and no doubt there is a coordinated effort that is well-funded and well-connected -- just happened to pick an issue on which a great number of people were willing to be misled, for reasons entirely unrelated to health issues. I think the protest was long overdue and mad cow is just a face it is wearing.
There is a logic behind the protest. It's complex leagues beyond the beef issue. Any counterpoints, methodically and logically laid out based on the safety of US beef, will fail.
Whoa,I hop you are going to be alright, brother. Hang in there.
juicy, anti-Americanism in Korea is always about PERCEIVED subservience.
In fact, give and take among nations is the way of trade among advanced nations. The US is so used to making concessions that it is not a matter of pride.
The Rupublic of Korea, however, has always the net advantage in international relations, so they have gotten spoiled.
Koreans have to realize that to win something, you have to be willing to deal in good faith and give something too.
It they take to the streets like petulent children every time their national pride is offended, then they have a long way to go before they are considered a mature nation.
Mizar five:
And yet protest of this scale never seem to happen against other countries with significant trade relationships.
While I acknowledge the petulant tenor of the current (and past) anti-US protest, it is an error to characterize it as immature and baseless.
US has never experienced occupation, however benign, and only very infrequently had its sovereignty sullied. The fact that so many otherwise intelligent people in the US frame the current US immigration issues as invasions and occupation merely brings into sharp relief the lack of perspective on the matter.
(US can rightfully scorn the Korean comparison of Namdaemun fire as its 9/11. Korea, as well as other past occupied countries, can likewise scorn the claims of invasion and occupation on the immigration issue.)
But I digress.
Brian, you should offer to just meet these people and hash things out in person, esp. if there are any cute chicks amongst them. There's nothing like angry sex!
Brian,
This is WangKon936 who regularly comments at Marmot's Hole. First of all I like to say that I'm absolutely sympathetic to your situation and the tactics that these nutizens have employed are indefendable.
However, as an American of Korean heritage, I do have to say that it's hard to read your blog sometimes. The language you decide to use to, how shall I say? "Describe" aspects of Korean society that need improvement often comes out sounding insulting and condescending. Sometimes I feel like you make out Koreans to be some sort of separate class of human beings that are to be examined in cages for the expat to gawk at and ridicule. Now, I think there are instances where I write similar prose, but there is a line that I do not cross, where criticism turns into insult. I don't think this is your intent, but I can see how others, particularly from a society where satire and other modes of Western humor are still poorly misunderstood.
Brian, you can have 100 or 200 comments here agreeing with you and sympathizing with you, but it won't change the fact that you may still make yourself vulnerable to continued nutizen attacks. I advise that you use common sense and be mindful of your environment. Korean democracy at this point in it's development is a lot like the wild west. Yes you should pack a pistol to defend yourself, but you should try to avoid confrontation with a well placed, "Howdy" and "How do you do partner" and "Let me buy you a drink sir" every once in a while to diffuse a situation.
Scott,
These girls might be underaged.
I understand what you're saying juicy, but that still doesn't work on most people. They still can't control the way someone feels and how that someone may wish to project those feelings and vice versa.
It sounds like they want to go back to the time of the Kings or something. Like I stated before, that may work on some weak minded Koreans, but that's NOT gonna work on foreigners.
They need to 'correct' themselves and be happy with that, cause that's as far as it's going to get, honestly.
Thanks for the comments, Edward. I never noticed coming across as too . . . what's the word, as rendering Koreans as other species, or coming across as insulting to Koreans as a whole. "Attacking" sacred cows (sorry) I suppose will have that effect. I've insulted certain aspects of Korean society, but I never noticed any more venom than you find on all the other sites and blogs. I've been mindful that some people find my blog overwhelmingly negative, so I do try to mix it up a little and post stories all across the spectrum, but the informative or positive ones generally don't get any readers. As I've mentioned before I really like Korea 98% of the time, but it's impossible to have that reflected in 98% of the posts because, unfortunately, 98% of the news (here or anywhere) isn't good. Anyway, it's something I'll be aware of, so thank you for pointing it out to me.
This is an example of Korean "wang ta" culture vs. true democracy.
Democracy is based on mutual respect for opposing positions, hearing one another out and reaching a mutual agreement.
Korea's "wang ta democracy" is based on whipping up a mad frenzy and ganging up to intimidate any voices of dissent to remain silent.
The issues are never dispassionately discussed and the issues are never properly understood. Since no understanding is reached, there is no consensus and the rivalries only worsten, causing greater confusion and a dysfuntional society.
That's a florid, glowing description of an ideal democracy that I'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere, even here in the U.S.
Politics is a dirty business, and has been probably from the beginning. And it seems especially so in recent years when any dissent would be met with incendiary charges of treason and treachery, of being unpatriotic and un-American.
I believe that a great part of the appeal of Barack Obama is that he represents a change. Never mind just exactly what the change would be has so far been sketchy. As articulate as Obama is, he has never articulated it as he has stood for it, to the frustration and consternation of his critics. It's enough that it would be different from the status quo.
I fully understand that Korean democracy has problems. But do not compare to an ideal that does not exist in practice.
Brian,
You seem like a pretty decent guy. If you were ever in a part of Korea where a few drunk kids wanted to pick something with you, I've got your back. Just as long as you've got mine if I somehow get stuck in the wrong side of the deep South or if I'm surrounded by a bunch of drunk, laid-off Detroit auto workers.
I think a cautionary tale for all expats employed by Korean companies would have to be Gerry Bevers. The situation outlined in his blog here: http://www.occidentalism.org/?p=449
Now, as Andrei Lankov had said regarding Gerry, every society has it's sacred cows which should at least be recognized and respected before it's attacked. Lankov, whether it's good or bad, came from a society that didn't have the free speech traditions that were as deep or cherished as the United States, but he does come from a country that is highly nationalistic and is in a sense struggling to find its soul, something like South Korea today, so I believe his commentaries do have some value.
Personally, I do appreciate and respect the opinion that a lot of expats give regarding Korea (and some I don't care much for). And I know some expats sensationalize the problems in Korea because of the very real prejudice they may have experienced in the country, which is extremely unfortunate. There are certainly a lot of problems in Korea, but there is a lot of good in the country as well.
I personally like a lot of what I read from James Turnbull's blog. How he can take sensitive subjects regarding plastic surgery or Lee Hyori and not make it a complete bash feast and correctly balance his love/hate relationship with the country. I can tell you for a fact that many expats and gyopos do have that in common. A love/hate relationship with Korea and things Korean. You'd be suprised how many views we'd have in common, but what holds us gyopos back is that at some point, we'd be spitting laying down because of what we see in the mirror every day is a lot similar to what's being made fun of and the parents who sacrified a lot to get us to where we are today are pretty much every bit the native Korean that many expats bash without thinking twice.
Furthermore, to these michin seki gi gee bae dul that have choosen to attack you. Besides being largely ignorant the the facts at hand, they have done a terrible disservice to Korea. It is one thing to attack a person's ideas point by point. However, it is entirely another to attack a person, pry into his/her personal life and threaten his livelihood. In the developed world (OEDC countries) these type of tactics are looked down upon and often illegal. It is amazingly embarassing for a developed, democratic country like South Korea to have to have private citizens resort to tactics like this instead of argue from logic and facts. This is extremely shameful for Korea, a country that as a part of the OECD, which claims to be a democracy and claims to be a free society, to attack foreign residents in this manner. As a Korean American, this is very difficult for me to explain to Americans here regarding this shameful behavior, which is not how issues are settled in a developed country. You should immediately retract such attacks and apologize immediately.
If word ever got out that foreign teachers were being fired for expressing their viewpoint in a supposed democratic country like South Korea, imagine the front page news that would generate in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time, etc. It would be damaging to Korea's standing in the world, it's reputation and to the schools involved in caving into this this kind of pressure. Using economics to threaten people's jobs is like being associated with the most backwards African dictatorships. Do you want to be associated with those kinds of countries?
I agree with Edward that the tone or the language of this blog might invite hostility from Koreans (the Metropolitican is even more snarky), but then again, I'm not a foreginer living in Korea. Truth be told, if ABC or NBC aired shows that depict Asian immigrants as promiscous foreigners, I'd be pissed.
Of course in America a handful of minority empowerment group as well as conservative / religious watch dogs will surely raise objections and pressure the TV station to drop such offensive shows or advertisements. Americans are dependably prolific in indentifying what's taboo or offensive and make an issue out of it, especially in mainstream entertainment. Being politically correct has occasional merits.
Isn't this this blog is a voice in the wilderness by contrast? Truth be told, the "What's the big deal" response Brian received from his co workers when he showed the Nazi themed commercial might be more norm than the exception among Koreans. Metro was particularly furious over a racist skit in that "chatting with beauty" TV show but did it register with mainalnd Koreans in general? Korea will occasionally produce such stunngingly racist / xenophobic materials, and if the trend continued blissfully and no one listened to my angry objections as a foreigner, well, maybe I'd be super pissed too, and choose to vent steam in my blog.
More importantly, Koreans typically do not use measured, respectful tone when discussing Dokdo or anything Japan (this is perhaps an understatement) related. If Koreans find Brian's blog to be unnecesarily negative and condescending to their country, than it's a taste of their own medicine.
These bastards are out of control. Korean Rum Diary has been hit by one, but I also post my blogs on MySpace, and have been the target of some evil things said about Scottish and Japanese people, in spite of my dislike for my own country, and nobody really bringing up the subject of Japan...
Well, I complain, but these weirdos have launch my blog views from 20 a week to over 1,200... So it's good for business.
Now they're threatening to report me to the police (they have, unsuccessfully) and inform my bosses (they haven't, thankfully)...
This is obviously an old post, but you DO have legal recourse against attacks if those attacks "harm your reputation." The Korean libel laws have no truth defense, as you might know. So even if the "netizen" in question is not lying, just the attack itself (especially encouraging people to have you fired) can be the basis of a successful lawsuit. More importantly, it's funny how people say "the country that employs you." Korea doesn't employ you.. your employer employs you. A disagreement or even dislike for a country doesn't have anything to do with who is employing you. Plenty of Americans. Canadians, etc, etc complain about "My country this, my country that," but that doesn't mean that they are wrong for doing so.
After all, America is the country in which I worked for many, many years, yet I'll readily complain about certain things, just like we do here in Korea. That doesn't mean I hate this country or that.. The obsessive and small-penis ultra-nationalism is pretty damned childish. "My country is better than yours, and my daddy can beat up your daddy." blah, blah blah. Anyway, keep up the good fight! I'm off to eat something to increase my vitality. Thank you for reading my essay.
Thanks for the comment, Brian. If you read the update, though, you'll see that legal issues aside I was getting strong-armed by my employer, and had to drop the case (I wasn't trying to sue or anything, just to get the guy punished according to whatever the punishment would be.)
Well, regardless, it ended up working out. It's been an eventful year to say the least. It did demonstrate, though, the limits of free speech and the extent to which it may or may not exist in Korea.
I didn't read the update yet.. But the good thing out of this is that you were able to test the limits, if anything to find out what they were. I was told not to publish or give any media interviews by my employer about the H1N1 business.. Of course, I'm ignoring that order and there is nothing contractual about the request, so they don't really have any solid ground. However, I do always omit the name of my employer in anything I write. After all, free speech is one thing, but being foolhardy about it is quite another.
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