Korea Herald on Anti-English Spectrum.

A pair of interesting articles in the Korea Herald this evening on the attention Anti-English Spectrum's been getting lately, with Andrea Vandom publically questioning whether that internet cafe violate's Naver's terms of service. In her letter on that point she writes, in part:

While Naver should protect its users’ rights to speak freely in a robust and open environment where controversial ideas are expressed and even offensive language is used, it is clear that racial hatred and discrimination must not be tolerated. Accordingly, Article Ga-4 of Naver cafe’s terms of service agreement makes clear that a cafe created with the intention of defaming a particular group is prohibited and Article Ga-6 calls for “immediate closure” in such an instance.

The conclusion of her letter to Naver's parent corporation, again:

NHN Corp. should take a stand against racism, xenophobia and the proliferation of hate speech that only serves to tarnish Naver’s good name and reputation. Toward such an end I strongly suggest that Naver:

* Remove content that claims foreigners are targeting Korean children in order to sexually molest them.
* Remove content that spreads rumors of foreigners seeking to infect Koreans with AIDS or other diseases.
* Remove content that contains racially derogatory images and messages that promote racial hatred and discrimination such as the group’s many “promotional posters.”
* Remove content that profiles, targets and stigmatizes individuals on the basis of race and nationality in order to expose them to greater suspicion.
* Remove content that involves vigilante activities such as the tracking or stalking of any persons, whether Koreans or foreigners.
* Remove content that targets interracial couples and seeks to stigmatize and degrade Koreans for having any kind of relationships with foreigners.

First, Matt VanVolkenburg, the author of the blog Gusts of Popular Feeling writes of the group's "systematic" efforts against teachers:

Anti-English Spectrum, described on their website as "The Citizen's Movement to Expel Illegal Teachers of Foreign Languages," attempted to disguise their true nature in 2007 by changing their website banner showing Korean nationalist heroes and the caption "Our homeland is protected by the blood of our ancestors" to one showing a child at a blackboard with the title "The Citizen's Group for Upright English Education."

Their day to day activities, which consist of race-based profiling and stalking of foreigners, have not changed, however. Anti-English Spectrum's website is full of updates about foreign teachers that they are "pursuing" based on tips alleging illegal activity. A post on Oct. 14 about the "stakeout" of a female foreign teacher said, "Drugs have not turned up, only a used condom was found," suggesting they search through teachers' garbage.

In a recent interview, the cafe's manager even suggested that, instead of calling the police, people who want to report foreign teacher crime should "go through our cafe members (so) we can advise you and alert police." This behavior, however, has not been condemned, but was officially rewarded by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in 2007.

Gusts of Popular Feeling is arguably the best blog in Korea, and is certainly the best-researched one, and has numerous posts on Anti-English Spectrum and discrimination against foreign English teachers, including:

* "The achievements of Anti-English Spectrum"
* "How to make foreign English teachers an AIDS threat in 5 easy steps"
* "The 'undisclosed crimes' of potential child molesting foreign English teachers"
* "Puff piece about Anti-English Spectrum"

And, I noticed he put up a post this evening providing an excellent overview of the topic with plenty of links, so give that a read as well.

Another article, by Adam Walsh, is on the difference between free speech and hate speech, and comes with several notorious images from the Naver cafe, including:



An objection I made to the Korea Times' articles on this movement against Anti-English Spectrum---most recently yesterday's---is that Kang Shin-who made no effort to present teachers' objections to the group, and did not present the objections people like Benjamin Wagner or Matt VanVolkenburg have made to dispute the so-called "facts" given by lawmakers and public figures. A lengthy excerpt from the Herald piece:

Further involvement in the AIDS public opinion field was the group's successful influencing of foreign visa regulations using false statistics. Bill (3356), which is now at the National Assembly, is designed to allow AIDS testing for any foreigners coming into Korea on working visas. The bill contains a statistic which originates from Anti-English Spectrum, and has been quoted by the group's administrator in the media on numerous occasions. It states that in 2007 the Itaewon AIDS clinic performed 80 percent of its tests on foreign teachers and foreign white collar workers.

Korea AIDS/HIV Prevention & Support Center statistics for that year show that the 80 percent statistic is false. Furthermore, KHAP director Yu Sung-chal told Expat Living that the clinic "moved to Seongbuk-gu in 2006, so it makes no sense to say that the Itaewon clinic sent out these statistics."

When Assemblyman Lee Sang-jun, who is behind Bill (3356) was asked by the Herald about the false statistic, he stated that he got the stats from the Ministry of Justice, and that he does not remember who in the ministry he got them from. "I do go over statistics at times. But in this case, since they are not the vital issue here, but rather a reference, I didn't check the facts."

The same dubious statistic can be traced back even further. A petition from AES sent to the Ministry of Justice in 2006 bears the same 80 percent figure. Around this time, Anti-English Spectrum assisted in an online article that alleged the percentage was English teachers, leaving out the mention of white collar workers. The picture included with the article is of a white man giving a blood sample to a nurse -- presumably an English teacher, since the article is about EFL teachers -- with the caption once again mentioning the Itaewon AIDS tests.

As it turns out, the photo was a fake. The picture is of President George W. Bush's former U.S. Global AIDS coordinator being publicly tested for HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia in an effort to fight AIDS stigma. The same picture is on Wikipedia.

When reached for comment, the director of the AIDS Prevention Center in Daegu did not have nice things to say about Anti-English Spectrum. "I think they are highly nationalistic and they treat foreigners as our enemies ... I do believe in freedom of speech, however, what they are sending out is highly controversial and might send out the wrong perception," said Kim Ji-young.