Law professor Benjamin Wagner talks about the history of discimination against foreign English teachers, and indeed foreign men. Vandom's interview talks about her challenge to the mandatory AIDS and drugs tests for E-2 visa holders and about the discriminatory background of the tests, and Gaymer's interview talks about the death threat against ATEK members, the influence AES wields in the media and among lawmakers, and AES's stalking activities. There's also a statement by the Korean Embassy in Ottawa and comments from a foreign teacher busted for smoking pot.
This comes after the National Post did a piece on Anti-English Spectrum the other day, an article that I do consider shoddy because of errors and vagueness, but it certainly succeeded in bringing attention to the group. Rob Brydon, the teacher interviewed in that National Post piece, provided background information on the article on the Facebook group "Dismantle the AES":
Basically about two weeks ago I decided to draft a letter and then sent it to the Vancouver Sun, the Vancouver Province and three Vancouver area members of Parliment. Within twelve hours of sending it, I was on the phon......e with a reporter from the Sun. His editor explicitly asked me not talk to any other news organizations until they broke the story first. I expected it only to be a local Vancouver story, but turns out its been sydnicated and run not only in the Sun and the post but at least 6 other major CanWest dailies in Canada, including Calgary and Montreal.
On this post about the National Post story I provided links that give background to Anti-English Spectrum, and I think it's also useful to remind readers about the so-called Wagner Report, the lengthy report to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea titled "Discrimination Against Non-Citizens in the Republic of Korea in the Context of the E-2 Foreign Language Teaching Visa," compiled by Ben Wagner. It details pretty clearly the bias against native speaker English teachers in Korea and gives statistics that challenge the misinformation spouted by Anti-English Spectrum and by in the media, and that which forms the basis of legislation against E-2-holding English teachers.
Nhrck Report 2
92 comments:
This is awesome. I think if the momentum keeps going with the international media coverage that the key players (in Korea), who are promoting racism and prejudicial immigration policies with no legal basis in law, might begin to feel some heat from the general public and other sources because they're shaming Korea on the global media stage.
It's a fairly big deal that Anti-English Spectrum got mentioned on 'The Current'. It's the CBC's morning politics radio program, so its one of the more influential radio programs in Canada.
The only place where it would get greater exposure would be on one of the TV news programs.
The attention in the Canadian media is a good thing. I haven't listened to the podcast, but I hope it mentions some of the things that elected politicians have said, which is far more damaging and important than what some loons believe. I agree with Jason that shaming Korea internationally is the best way to go.
By the way, did people to have fly off the handle in the comments? AES says that 80% of foreign teachers are HIV-positive, and someone writes in the comments that "the Korean media is nearly indistinguishable from Nazi era race baiting papers like Der Sturmer", and that major Korean companies are "organizing sex trips to Thailand".
I don't want to challenge free speech. If a group of Koreans want to badmouth NSETs on their little cafe, fine, so be it. I'll bet some of the threads on Dave's rival AES in their ignorance and idiocy. But I do object to stalking and making threats---illegal, correrct?---and to them having politicians' ears, preying on their bias, and feeidng them misinformation that goes into laws and policy. Ignorant opinions like those on AES will never go away, just as some of the loons you find on Dave's, YouTube, AsiaFinest, etc. will always be there. But what I hope the attention does is give us an avenue to dispute the ignorance and misinformation with stats and with our own side of the story. The Korea Herald has given many of us a forum, but how many Koreans respond to it?
You're right, Adeel, about that Facebook group. The best way to fight AES isn't by being ugly but by doing what people like Wagner, Vandom, Gaymer, and Gusts of Popular Feeling do: getting the truth out there.
Steve Snowball?
And did anybody follow up on Mike's suggestion about checking the source of the email? I won't have time to listen to the CBC broadcast until tomorrow or the next day, so I don't know if they've gotten clearer evidence about whether someone in AES really sent it.
Der Sturmer talked about Jews as bacillus. AES uses the same metaphor. I can't speak with authority on Thailand, but South Koreans control a large segment of the sex trade in the Philippines. They most certainly are organizing sex trips there.
I know Steve Snowball. He disappeared from Haebangcheon a couple of years ago. Busted on TV by investigative journalists. Ouch. He did 6 weeks, eh? Could have been worse and it sounds like he knows it now.
I love how the rep at the Korean consulate in Canada put words in our mouths saying how everyone had such a positive experience in Korea.
I am disappointed that CBC actually aired a clip like that.
I got an email about it and posted the link on Chatjip. Thought it was a good piece. Dann sounded much more groomed than he had been in those early press releases. Andrea kicked ass, as did Ben Wagner. The embassy official succeeded in painting AES as "reactionary," showing some of the first official signs of marginalizing them by the Korean government. The Steve Snowball part was weird, claiming that English teachers just work a few hours a day and have lots of free time. Those jobs exist, but they're not that common.
I was disappointed that when Anna Maria Tremonti challenged some of the guests on the view of English teachers partying too hard that no one pointed out that the culture itself parties too hard. It's easy to get sucked into the hard drinking lifestyle here, and I almost got lost in it. Note, there is no BlackoutKorea for NSETs.
You can download it here:
http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/currentdonotusethis_20091210_24299.mp3
But I do object to stalking and making threats---illegal, correrct?---and to them having politicians' ears, preying on their bias, and feeidng them misinformation that goes into laws and policy.
Brian, is there something that can be done with respect to libel laws? Korea has very strong libel laws, and I've seen posts on Dave's that tell teachers not to say anything about difficult employers in case they have to go to court.
Der Sturmer talked about Jews as bacillus. AES uses the same metaphor.
That's a long, long way from being "indistinguishable" from Nazi newspapers.
I can't speak with authority on Thailand, but South Koreans control a large segment of the sex trade in the Philippines. They most certainly are organizing sex trips there.
Even if all johns in Thailand are Korean, that doesn't mean all Koreans are johns, though an alarmingly high number are.
A discussion about Western teachers being slandered is not the place to call Koreans Nazi-like sex addicts.
Is his name really Steve Snowball?
Sounds like the nom de guerre one would use if they wished to snow the media. Is he a fan of The Simpsons?
The recent coverage this issue has gotten in Canada makes me wonder. Just as Korean newspapers love to play up any positive coverage of Korea in foreign newspapers, even when it's unwarranted, they seem equally reluctant to show if Korea gets any negative publicity overseas.
The real question here then is, can foreign coverage of this issue really have any effect on Korea or its policies? I don't mean to say people should stop trying to get the word out there, but so far, it seems like most of the word is going out in English to English speakers; preaching to the choir, if you will.
I guess I'm saying that, with all that needs to change regarding E-2 visa holders in Korea, and the number of well reasoned and insightful blog posts by people able to use Korean, I'm surprised that there's little mention of this point of view being disseminated to the Korean populous or law makers actually in Korean.
Like I said, not criticism, just a suggestion.
Adeel,
I don't think Libel laws would be the right way to go. Libel is good for korean vs korean. But foreigner vs korean I am not so sure Libel law would work in this instance.
I am very open to anyone telling me I'm wrong on this, Kushibo, be gentle. =)
I listened to the podcast again, and taking into account this whole email death threat stuff, and AES is very reactionary, etc.
Would it not be fair to say that English Teachers are just the current scapegoat? Being xenophobic is only natural (not saying it's right BUT) Historically they've had a problem with Foreign invasions upon their culture. Japan and china to be precise. Therefore a little xenophobia is natural given that South Korea has only been sans-japanese occupation for less than 100 years. It's gonna take a long time for things to change completely. Yes there are changes being made in korea, not saying there isn't change. But we've all come from countries where we are very multicultural and havn't dealt with occupations and such.
My point? This is a serious threat yes. But in the long run, we Foreign English Teachers are just a passing phase in Korea's cultural development into a multicultural nation. There will be others, sadly. So Libel is not the way to handle this.
Sorry for being so longwinded. New to posting.
Steve Snowball couldnt have said it any better!
Adam wrote:
I am very open to anyone telling me I'm wrong on this, Kushibo, be gentle. =)
Off the top of my head, I can't think of any libel cases where a foreign national was the plaintiff, so I wouldn't be able to say one way or the other if the facts bear out what you're saying.
Where foreign nationals are at a disadvantage, for the most part, is when the cops investigate an issue, and it's really those who lack the ability to explain their side of the story (either by themselves or through a skilled Korean-speaking advocate) who get disadvantaged at that stage of a legal encounter.
On the other hand, I can say that at least in the case of court matters I have witnessed first hand, foreign nationals don't fare particularly better or worse than Korean nationals. There are plenty of cases where courts fell clearly on the side of foreign workers (like the overpaid foreign pilots who demanded severance pay) in cases where "conventional wisdom" would have suggested otherwise.
So I guess we'd have to see if someone really has a case for libel and goes through with it. But has any one individual been able to demonstrate that he/she has been personally injured by what AES has falsely writeen?
Anyway, I'm trying to withhold comment until I have a chance to listen to the broadcast. I want to give it a fair hearing, but I will be listening for an answer to why this group is taking AES to an international audience like this instead of, say, trying to hobble the group at home by getting them labeled a hate group via the NHRCK.
Kushibo,
I do agree that the International stage might not quite get the problem truly solved when if it was done locally as you point out might be solved differently.
With libel being not quite the place to go either, I was under the impression that Libel could be against a person or organization, but not so doesn't extend to groups of people "english foreign teachers"
English Foreign Teachers Vs AES? lol I have to admit thinking about it is intriguing but not happening.
Jason, I do think that while educating people internationally is good, I don't think it would generate enough heat from the general public in Korea to act. But hey, I could be wrong.
Yes, his name is really Steve Snowball. His idiocy led to my E2 application being denied (the company we both worked for had all new E2s suspended for 3 months because of him). I thus had to order every single document again, since immigration trashed them all when they denied me. This took over a month, and forced me to work illegally to make ends meet. And when immi visited my hagwon... you can imagine the rest.
Thus, I shall tear his mandible from his skull should I ever run into Steve Snowball again.
Is Steve Snowball the "foreign teacher busted for smoking pot" in the story?
Rich wrote:
Yes, his name is really Steve Snowball. His idiocy led to my E2 application being denied (the company we both worked for had all new E2s suspended for 3 months because of him).
He smoked pot and you couldn't get your E2 processed? How did that work? (I'm not saying I don't believe you, but just wondering what the justification for that was, though I can imagine the "sponsor" being punished for not keeping an eye on the "sponsoree.")
I thus had to order every single document again, since immigration trashed them all when they denied me. This took over a month, and forced me to work illegally to make ends meet. And when immi visited my hagwon... you can imagine the rest.
I can imagine, but I'd rather hear directly.
Thus, I shall tear his mandible from his skull should I ever run into Steve Snowball again.
So his pot smoking was what did this, or did he do something else, like use fake documents or something?
If it's the latter, I can imagine that Steve Snowball isn't his actual name.
Kushibo, I know the guy and his name really, really, really is Steve Snowball. No joke, true dat, for real. I knew him long before he had anything to hide and I know lots of people who know him as well. It is his real name.
Adam, I remember another commenter long ago who showed how Britain had been subjected to more invasions from its neighbors than Korea. You'll have to find a better argument than that.
":A discussion about Western teachers being slandered is not the place to call Koreans Nazi-like sex addicts."
-How about we just call them sex-addicts that like to dress like Nazis? I don't think you can argue with that.
Kushibo:
Is Steve Snowball the "foreign teacher busted for smoking pot" in the story?
Yes.
He smoked pot and you couldn't get your E2 processed? How did that work?
There were several teachers from the same hagwon who got nabbed in the same bust. Most everyone who worked there had to do a piss test. Several got the hell out of dodge before they got tested. Legend has it that at least one made it out on a container ship to China, though that may be apocryphal. As so many from the same place got busted together, the hagwon was banned from getting new E2s for a period of 3 months. This meant that my application, which was already being processed, got trashed.
I can imagine, but I'd rather hear [what happened when immi visited] directly.
Nothing out of the ordinary. I got caught in a classroom, thrown in immi lockup in Mokdong, talked to a bunch of Filipino guys in there, waited it out for 24 hours, the wonjang came down and paid a 'fine' (which I doubt ever made it past the immi officer's pocket), I was released.
So his pot smoking was what did this, or did he do something else, like use fake documents or something?
It was purely the pot bust. His qualifications and documents were all legit. He was just a weapons-grade dumbass.
Well I am pretty damn impressed that the so-called slacker English teachers were able to put this whole movement together and in under a year's time to have international press, a Constitutional Court case, and a National Human Rights Comm. complaint.
In fact it looks like they have inspired the migrant workers and Amnesty Int'l to follow their example. An NHRCK petition was filed on AIDS Day by the migrant's trade union.
"a migrants' trade union and three other rights groups said in their petition that the policy breaches the rights of migrant workers, according to the National Human Rights Commission which received the document."
Pretty impressive for a bunch of pot-head slackers.
And for those of you sympathetic to concerns over "bad English teachers" the CBC report is great! Maybe it has the chance of spooking off Canadian fuck-up teachers like Colonel Fernandez.
Well-said, JSK.
I just listened to the broadcast in its entirety. Now more than ever, considering how heavily the beginning of the broadcast played up the death threat submitted to ATEK was played up (it was the kernel of the piece, without which this broadcast probably would not have occurred), I'd really like to see Mike's suggestion (see the fifth comment from the top) addressed.
The idea that was stated — that even if AES didn't send this, they created the kind of environment where it would be sent — is a highly questionable one if it turns out to have been sent by a shit-stirrer from the Anglophone side.
Brent said:
.....
showed how Britain had been subjected to more invasions from its neighbors than Korea.
Brent I don't disagree with the number of invaders Britain had to deal with. I was referring to the lasting effect.
To my knowledge, I havn't heard of brits being as xenophobic as Koreans. I havn't lived in England to witness any xenophobia but if it exists please tell me.
I'd be interested to know.
I listened to the radio piece last night and waited till this morning before dropping my two cents into this debate.
First, I have to say that it truly depresses me that the freakin' National Post was the first to break this story. When the story of Mi Sook Oh - the South Korean mother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia who sought refuge in Canada - hit the national airwaves, the Right wing hate machine came out in full force, using this example as a reason for Canada tightening its borders and whatnot. Many on the right came out aggressively against Korea and the Post breaking this story has me worried that we'll see more of that in the coming months if this story does indeed pick up steam here.
As far as the radio interview goes, I'm in agreement with a lot of what's already been said here. I think Andrea Vandom, Ben Wagner and even Steve Snowball expressed their sides of the story very well and the host did an extremely good job of being Devil's Advocate and trying to be fair to both sides, bringing up both pros and cons to each side of the argument.
That said, the show wasn't without its faults. Among them:
- Dann Gaymer did not speak well and actually seemed to hurt the side against AES. A lot of his story was speculative and without evidence. It seemed like he was trying to shift blame without any proof which only makes it look like the foreign teachers in Korea are trying to blame someone for something somewhere. Not the best thing to do when you're trying to win people's confidence on a subject.
- Steve Snowball was given a nice moment to say that not all teachers in Korea are big party animals... but it wasn't reinforced enough by either him or the other speakers. Furthermore, no one mentioned that this is a culture that is CENTRED around alcohol and drinking to the point where we have websites dedicated to pictures of people laying passed out and covered in piss on the streets (http://blackoutkorea.com/). Its not fair to say that there's a party culture when foreigners come to the country without mentioning that Koreans party and/or drink just as hard, if not harder.
- Not enough statistics were given by the AES opposition side. I would have loved to have heard more people pointing out that there were MORE cases of Korean teachers causing crimes than foreign nationals committing those same crimes. Furthermore, there was a lot of talk about foreigners either molesting children or beating Koreans but not a single person thought it relevant to mention that Korea is a country that condones corporal punishment at all levels of education.
- Ben Wagner was brilliant. Best part of the show and frankly, it should have been a 30 min-1 hour conversation with him alone. I wish, however, he had made more of a point to talk about just how bad the media in Korea likes to portray foreign English teachers. He made mention of the difference in reporting in the 1995 Chungmuro subway riot, but he didn't really go into detail of just how badly the media here scapegoats teachers, how journalists like Kang Shin-who can make careers for themselves simply by writting smear pieces on the foreigners in Korea and how the major media outlets have threatened their readers when they try to fight against such awful reporting.
By the way, did people to have fly off the handle in the comments? AES says that 80% of foreign teachers are HIV-positive, and someone writes in the comments that "the Korean media is nearly indistinguishable from Nazi era race baiting papers like Der Sturmer", and that major Korean companies are "organizing sex trips to Thailand".
When the Korean media runs pictures of big nosed white people threatening Korean school girls and inventing these incidents out of whole cloth, the Korean media is, in fact, indistinguishable from Der Sturmer. No?
The point about Korean company sex trips is there are far nastier things going on in Korea than white people engaging in consensual relationships with Korean women.
No? I think the Metropolitician put it best that Korea has fashioned itself a playground for males and then it acts surprised when a percentage of foreign want to play too.
Don't even get me started on the similarities on the Nazi word for work, "arbeit", and the Korean 아르바이트, or how the Nazis called their country Deutschland, which the Koreans took and turned into 독일.
If a Korean finds this blog, they'll see a debate among foreigners on whether or not their media is just like that of the country that started World War II and nearly wiped out Jews. Meanwhile, we could've mentioned stats showing that foreigners commit less crimes than Koreans, or that not one foreign teacher has ever been convicted of molesting a Korean child.
Adeel - 'Arbeit' isn't the Nazi word for work, it's ordinary German. The reason that Koreans use 아르바이트 is because many Koreans went to work in Germany in the 1970s as mineworkers and nurses and were called in German 'Gastarbeiter' (guest workers). I would therefore hypothesize that Arbeit came to mean temporary work in Korean.
However, that's not to say that there's not lots of evidence that the early pioneers of the Korean republic were inspired by the nationalistic tactics of Nazi Germany, especially in the creation of a national mythology, such as the idea of pure blood, and thousands of years of history and what-have-you. Park Chung-hee was plagiarizing heavily from the Nazi playbook throughout his time at the helm.
JSK,
Loved your comment by the way.
"Maybe it has the chance of spooking off Canadian fuck-up teachers like Colonel Fernandez"
Im not sure what world you live in, but while I lived in Korea, it was filled with drinking at 7-11, girls, making money,getting into fights, and an easy way of life. The only responsibility was to pay your rent on time. Many can agree on that one, if you dont, your in serious denial. These were all great times never the less, and I had an amazing time in Korea. Also, again, if you never met anybody with a fake degree you have spent too much time hanging out at your computer and are socially inept. Many people I met without degrees were good people that were looking for some fun. Im sorry that many of you dont agree with what we did, but face it, its real.
Teaching English at a hogwon is not real teaching. Its a cooker cutter profession.
If you were having such a great time, Colonel, why did you leave?
WORD VERIFICATION: readban
At some point you have to call it quits Kushibo. English teaching has its limits.
Adeel, why don't you stop commenting on things you know nothing about? Your ignorance is hilarious.
Do you know where 독일 comes from? Do you know where 외국인 comes from? These words as most words in Korea are derived from Chinese characters.
The Chinese pronounce Germany "De-Guo" and foreigner as "Wai-Guo-Ren" literally meaning "outside-country-person".
Once you know where these words come from and the roots, can you offer anything significant to an argument about Koreans that you simply do not really know anything about.
아르바이트 actually comes from the Japanese who took it from the Germans... It wasn't a bunch of Korean workers working in Germany. It's from Japanese workers who have many part-time jobs in order to survive. The took it from the Germans in WWII (since they were allies) and in turn the Koreans took it from the occupying Japanese.
According to The Marmot: BTW, AES’s administrator is denying the CBC contacted him. And he’s not happy.
Boo hoo. It's just terrible when the media makes shit up about you, isn't it?
Don't even get me started on the similarities on the Nazi word for work, "arbeit" [...] or how the Nazis called their country Deutschland,
Talking about a DOOZY of ignorance. They are not NAZI words. They are GERMAN words. Are you able at all to distinguish between a language, German, and a political belief, Nazism?
아르바이트 actually comes from the Japanese who took it from the Germans... It wasn't a bunch of Korean workers working in Germany. It's from Japanese workers who have many part-time jobs in order to survive. The took it from the Germans in WWII (since they were allies) and in turn the Koreans took it from the occupying Japanese.
Are you sure about that? It doesn't sound very credible that the Japanese would pick up a word from their temporary allies in WWII and then would transmit it to Korea in such a short space of time. I know my explanation of the word's etymology was only a hypothesis, but I'm more inclined to go with that one than this one. Can you think of any other German-derived words that are used in Korean?
As a person of color who has had experiences of racism in both America and Canada, the utterly inane antics of the AES are something familiar and really sad. I hope native English speaking teachers can work together with locals and gyopos to shut them down and change E-2 visa requirements into something more sensible.
I would question the use of the word 'racism' in conversations, though, given how gyopos have their own, different set of negative interactions with native Koreans and the history of racism in North America. Also, there is a non-trivial difference in the situation of those who use that word in the current context and for those who've experienced it in contemporary and historical North America.
And to Stevie Bee, I think there was German/Japanese interaction before WWII. Heard something about the justice system in Japan being based on the German system, and that that was subsequently transmitted to Korea, but not sure. I do know the Korean word for a plaster cast '깁스' comes from German.
Can you think of any other German-derived words that are used in Korean?
Hof (호프)
Adeel, why don't you stop commenting on things you know nothing about? Your ignorance is hilarious.
It was sarcasm, unless you think I'm ignorant for not thinking South Korea has been trying to recreate Nazi Germany for the last sixty years.
Thanks for being a first-rate jerk though.
I believe invoking Godwin's Law will quickly end this. I would believe that Ken possibly lost this from the start, but Adeel was the first to write Nazi which would definitely trigger it.
@dazeba
As a person of colour, I believe you've forgotten the definition of the word racism. Allow me:
rac⋅ism
/ˈreɪsɪzəm/
–noun
1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
If you would, please explain to us how this/these definition(s) (do)es not apply to these conversations, these current situations and/or the historical situations you mention.
JSK wrote:
Well I am pretty damn impressed that the so-called slacker English teachers were able to put this whole movement together
Ben Wagner is not an English teacher, slacker or otherwise.
And I think that non-slacker English teachers would be those actually putting things together. The problem is that too many English teachers of the non-slacker variety feel compelled to lump themselves in with the slacker types (since Colonel Fernandez is with us, I'll rehash this link).
Even with AES, which superficially — as in what a casually browsing Korean speaker would see if they ran across the site — is about 불법 English teachers and not English teachers in general, there seems a general unwillingness to address or acknowledge the bad acts by some English teachers which triggers the animosity that groups like AES pander to.
In short, the NSET crowd needs a Cosby moment. They need to take back their image by rebuilding the professionalism with which they were once regarded, and that involves some separating of the wheat from the chaff.
and in under a year's time to have international press, a Constitutional Court case, and a National Human Rights Comm. complaint.
When you have what appears to be a race-based death threat, international press ain't that hard. Pity that the fools at AES didn't know how badly a death threat like that would backfire, eh?
Hof (호프)
Oh yes, of course. Co-incidentally enough, I was discussing the origin of the Korean use of this word with a German friend last week. He was quite mystified about how 'hof' had come to mean 'bar' here, as the German word Hof means yard, and also has a meaning similar to 'mayor'. I believe the word is also misused in English too (as in 'Bierhof' when taken to mean a drinking hall), so the Korean use may have come via the English misuse.
As for 아르바이트, I've done some asking around and it seems that this term was newly coined in the 1980s, so may well have come either from Koreans returning from Germany or from its use in Japan.
This is me Posting:
"As a person of colour, I believe you've forgotten the definition of the word racism."
Thank you for so tastefully exhibiting what racism is. However, unlike you, I have never needed to look it up in a dictionary to know what it was.
Hmm.........I think it's high time that ATEK/Vandom or any other affected person should do a write up on Wikipedia about the AES. At the moment there's nothing and if the BBC/CNN/Reuters/AP are to continue what the CBC started with there recent radio expose then a source of reference for AES is needed. Remember, it needs to remain neutral, unbiased and a fair description of who AES are- a Korean-racial supremacy/ quasi-terrorist group who issue death threats, spread malicious rumours about the activities of ex-patriots in Korea and stalk/harass members of the international community in person, in the media and on their website. What also needs to be mentioned is that parts of the media and government are complicit in the acts of this ultra-nationalist group of Nazis. Above all, the Wikipedia article needs to mention their threatened and actual acts of violence against members of the public (including Korean nationals who keep company with foreigners who have also been threatened and abused).
As a person of colour, I believe you've forgotten the definition of the word racism.
Who is the person of color, "I" or "you"?
Oh, and while we're at it, white is also a color, especially in East Asia.
White people are a minority in East Asia, that's a given.
The difference is that they have privileges in Korea that people of color in North America do not.
vinkinginseoul wrote:
Hmm.........I think it's high time that ATEK/Vandom or any other affected person should do a write up on Wikipedia about the AES. At the moment there's nothing and if the BBC/CNN/Reuters/AP are to continue what the CBC started with there recent radio expose then a source of reference for AES is needed. Remember, it needs to remain neutral, unbiased and a fair description of who AES are- a Korean-racial supremacy/ quasi-terrorist group who issue death threats, spread malicious rumours about the activities of ex-patriots in Korea and stalk/harass members of the international community in person, in the media and on their website.
How about getting the NHRCK to declare them a hate group? That would be the most effective way of discrediting them, far more than a Wikipedia entry.
I contacted the NHRCK and have inquired about making a complaint, but I am hamstrung by not being an English teacher and by not being physically present in the ROK at the moment (that's something I realized when I saw the form they wanted me to fill out). I am going to go to their offices in person when I'm next in Korea, but in the meantime it would be good if others filed complaints.
But, um, anyway... on the off chance that the death threat is the work of an Anglophone shit-stirrer, may be harping on that isn't such a great idea. If that is the case, then not only have criminal acts been committed, but repeatedly asserting it may border on libel.
Just sayin'.
WORD VERIFICATION: but funin
dazeba wrote:
White people are a minority in East Asia, that's a given.
The real problem for many Whites in Korea (or elsewhere in East Asia) is that they've gone from racial transparency to ethnic minority. It's a drop in status even with supposed "privileges."
The difference is that they have privileges in Korea that people of color in North America do not.
What privileges would those be?
I'm from Compton (straight outta Compton™) and for Gen-Xers and I imagine Gen-Yers, anyone who was willing to put in the time and effort to study (and a lot did) could get a ticket out of that outer innercity.
vikinginseoul said...
"I think it's high time that ATEK/Vandom or any other affected person should do a write up on Wikipedia about the AES.
How about you do it? Seriously, get it done. It's a good idea.
@dazeba
Thank you for so tastefully exhibiting what racism is. However, unlike you, I have never needed to look it up in a dictionary to know what it was.
You assume a lot. You should really stop doing that before you make yourself appear even more of an ass.
Furthermore, I think you really should look up that definition again. Evidentially, you do not understand the definition of racism. Dictionaries are good. They educate you.
Lastly, my comment wasn't racist. It was displaying how sanctimonious your comment was and how dumb it was. Regardless of where a person comes from, the one thing I can't stand is stupidity and that, my friend, transcends skin colour.
Keep trying, though.
The difference is that they have privileges in Korea that people of color in North America do not.
That's neither here nor there. Racism isn't - nor should it - be weighted. It simply is. For example, your definition of what "real" racism is - that it is more relevant to North Americans and less relevant to foreigners in Korea, is ironically and unfortunately, clearly racist. It means you've learned absolutely nothing from your "overwhelming" exposure to racism in North America.
Pity, really.
A racist act is racism no matter what. Doesn't matter who "had it worse" or "what was done to whom." NO ONE should be discriminated against because of their country of origin (which you're doing) or for the colour of their skin (which you're doing) or for how severe one racist action is compared to another (which you're doing).
So... before you start telling me what racism is, what you think you know about me or what you think you know of your incredibly myopic view of the world, take some time to think about the words you're saying and maybe you'll see just how ignorant they are and how all you're doing is spreading racism and apologizing for the racist actions of others.
You should be proud of yourself.
Lastly, unless you'd like to come back at me with an apology, we're done here. I have no interest nor desire to read any tripe you'd like to use to justify your racist beliefs.
In many ways I find this bias. The focus on E-2 visa holders hides the fact Gyopos like me on an F-4 is subject to the same kind of scrutiny. So it's not racist its just a blank anti-foreigner rule.
Signing up with a public school, I was also subject to criminal background checks, HIV testing, and mandatory drug testing.
winterfall wrote:
Signing up with a public school, I was also subject to criminal background checks, HIV testing, and mandatory drug testing.
I don't know how universal it is, but Korean nationals are subject to regular health checkups that I have been told by health professionals include HIV screening.
The HIV screening has been discussed in K-blogs as a teacher-versus-child issue, when public health officials in Korea see it as a public health concern, particularly as it pertains to expensive government-subsidized HIV treatment.
I've been talking with several people in an effort to get something solid to present regarding this, but my posts on K-blogs aren't exactly their top priority. I need the information eventually for research I'm doing, but I might have to dig it all up myself. Lots of legwork.
In many ways I find this bias. The focus on E-2 visa holders hides the fact Gyopos like me on an F-4 is subject to the same kind of scrutiny. So it's not racist its just a blank anti-foreigner rule.
You are totally right. And this is part of the bad trend we are seeing. But notice that the immigration based AIDS & drug tests do not apply to F-4 visa holders or F-2 visa holders. (This was mentioned in 2008 by the KT here). And of course they shouldn't apply to anyone.
But what has happened now is some government offices of education (e.g. SMOE, the Ulsan POE among others) are requiring their own tests. These are over and above what immigration requires (and immigration appears not to endorse them). And yes F-4s and F-2s are being tested under this new regime. I discussed this here.
Some will recall when the first tests came out it was suggested that it might be a good idea to just get them over with without complaining just to put Koreans' irrational fears aside and get on with teaching and living in Korea. It went: Yes, the tests are wrong, but try to understand it from the misinformed Korean perspective. It's just a little pinprick, just a little pee in a cup. Just get it over with.
The counterargument was - when does it stop? How many tests are enough? Many at the time thought such a counterargument was being overly dramatic - that there would never be anymore tests than a one-timer for E-2s only. In fact, an odd group of F-2 visa holders sprung up and advocated that the E-2s should just acknowledge their unprivileged status as temporary workers and just submit to the tests and quit whining. (The group wasn't representative of all or even most F-2s but they were extremely vocal).
But now that very group is being tested as well as other resident visa holders.
What was feared is in fact happening. We are seeing an actual increase in the testing. What used to be a one-time test for only E-2s now has become a yearly repeat test and spouses to Koreans (F-2s) and ethnic Koreans (F-4) have been caught up in the suspicion.
This has been called - "The cycle of stigma, discrimination and human rights violations."
"Stigma and discrimination are interrelated, reinforcing and legitimizing each other. Stigma lies at the root of discriminatory actions . . . Discrimination can be described as the enactment of stigma. In turn, discrimination encourages and reinforces stigma." (UNAIDS/05.05E, April 2005)).
As this cycle spins it generates more human rights violations. And we are seeing that now.
And yes, ethnic Koreans are indeed getting caught up in it.
TO: kushibo
I'm not a Korean national. Ethnically Korean but, in all respects treated as a foreigner. Despite the Visa.
My point of posting was just to show this isn't a racism issue. Foreigners often complain about racism which is undoubtedly a part of Korea. But, when it comes to this. It's not a racism issue its just a blanket distrust of foreigners.
Case in point, I got swine flu from a co-teacher. And I can prove it. At the first sign of being sick, I was immediately quarantined at home. While the co-teacher was coming in everyday coughing on people. And when the co-teacher tested positive, was allowed to keep coming to school.
Being Korean had nothing to do with being quarantined it was just a foreigner or not issue.
To B. Wagner.
I wouldn't call it the cycle of stigmatization. I'd just call it a public health issue. I don't feel unfairly discriminated because I was subject to HIV and drug testing. It's a legitimate concern that isn't completely unreasonable either.
We are after all supposed to be teachers. (Regardless of how we may be treated at work). And we come into contact with children everyday.
Though I do admit it'd be more fair if the government footed the bill. And the issue of mandatory criminal background checks every year is ridiculous. Obviously if we've been here for the last year teaching and we didn't go back then we obviously wouldn't have a criminal record.
Winterfall412 -
How is it a public health issue?
"I wouldn't call it the cycle of stigmatization. I'd just call it a public health issue . . . It's a legitimate concern that isn't completely unreasonable either. We are after all supposed to be teachers . . . And we come into contact with children everyday."
Assuming you don't engage in criminal activity at your school, you don't come in contact with children in a way that will transmit HIV/AIDS.
Let me give you an example of what may be a legitimate "public health concern" for schools but is not addressed in Korea.
Have you heard of MRSA? It's a type of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and it kills more people than AIDS in US. A CDC researcher described it as "a significant public health problem" and added that "We should be very worried." [See "MRSA Superbug Infections Now Killing More Americans than AIDS", also see "In 2005, More Than 18,000 Deaths Attributed to MRSA, CDC Reports."]
Unlike AIDS, MRSA is transmitted through normal everyday contact. That means simple skin-to-skin contact, or even contact with surfaces or shared item. In other words the type of contact you mean when you say "we come into contact with children everyday."
Accordingly, the CDC is concerned about the spread of MRSA in schools and has issued warnings on the subject here.
MRSA is becoming a real issue around the world. You probably din't hear anything about it here in Korea but last October was World MRSA Awareness Month. And one of the biggest issues surrounding MRSA is mandatory testing. [CBS News broadcast.]
In England mandatory testing for MRSA - which involves a 2 second swab of the nostril - was introduced last April, but it has already come under controversy. [See e.g. "Testing all patients for MRSA is 'unethical'".]
But in Korea you hardly here a word about MRSA and that's not because MRSA doesn't exist in Korea, it does.
A 2009 report by the Korean Division of Infectious Diseases, Samsung Medical Center at the International Symposium on Antimicrobial Agents and Resistance explain that "Many Asian countries including Korea have an increasing incidence of CA-MRSA infections [and because] many of these Asian isolates are resistant to multiple antibiotics, CA-MRSA would be even more serious problem in Asian countries." Like other countries the report calls for surveillance not only in hospitals but in the community: "Continuous surveillance of CA-MRSA both in the community and in the hospital are warranted..."
If the foreign teacher medical tests are truly about public health issues and not merely a result of stigma and discrimination then why not test for a disease that is easily transmitted in the classroom context, kills more Americans than AIDS, and that Korean health experts have warned we should be on the look out for?
The answer that I suggested here was that:
The E-2 visa policy was not implemented in order to achieve the legitimate aim of "protect[ing] children and young students," instead it was designed to achieve the symbolic aim of calming a xenophobic public panicked by news of dangerous foreign English teachers.
The E-2 visa policy is essentially a countrywide search of all suspicious foreign residents. The first stage involves a roundup of the suspects, the second stage involves body searches for drugs and diseases, and the final stage involves deportation of the undesirables. At each stage various human rights are violated.
This link above is broken:
MRSA Superbug Infections Now Killing More Americans than AIDS
Boo hoo. AES doesn't like the anti-AES Facebook group:
http://cafe.naver.com/englishspectrum.cafe?iframe_url=/ArticleRead.nhn?articleid=10047
I don't know how universal it is, but Korean nationals are subject to regular health checkups that I have been told by health professionals include HIV screening.
This mistaken idea has been lurking around since the "AIDS and drug tests for foreigners only is discrimination" claim was first raised.
It's an appealing argument. If all Koreans (at least all teachers) got these tests then how can it be discrimination?
First, we need to eliminate the drug test issue since no one claims that these tests are administered to Korean teachers in a nondiscriminatory manner. These type of tests are limited to foreign teachers and Koreans who happened to be, for example, narcotic offender convicts. (The difference being that with Korean narcotic offender prisoners you need a law on the books to require the tests, but with foreigners it seems that anything goes.) (2005 Hun Ma 277). (TBPE tests for Korean narcotic offender convicts discussed here
But lets forget about the discriminatory drug tests for now and just look at the AIDS tests.
The argument that Korean teachers all get AIDS tests interests me and I wish those who make it would cite a reliable government source.
I've heard it whispered about by different people. I have even heard the claim that all government employees get AIDS tests, and sometimes (but rarely) that all Korean nationals get AIDS tests as Kushibo suggests.
But when you press for an explanation what you usually get is this: lots of people get blood tests . . .
But of course a blood test does not an AIDS test make, just as a urine test doesn't mean you are being tested for drugs.
Korea has about 480,000 public school teachers. It's the largest group of public employees in the country. (Korean Gov. 2008 figures.)
If public school teachers in Korea were actually getting AIDS tests that would mean they were the largest group (by far) in the country getting those tests.
But Korea canned its mandatory testing regime in 2000. And even at the height of AIDS phobia in the 90s when "[e]ven workers of 'hygiene related jobs' such as food factories, hotels & inns, and hair shops" were being tested school teachers were not. (See "HIV/AIDS Policy in South Korea" 2008, Byong-Hee Cho, School of Public Health, Seoul National University)
In 1996 some 4.9 million Koreans were tested, but even then - not school teachers. (And it has never been the case that the entire population has been tested.)
The numbers of Koreans getting mandatory tests continued to drop dramatically up to 2000 when Korea adopted its AIDS Prevention Act, which officially got rid of the mandatory testing scheme and instituted voluntary testing. There are still some small groups of individuals who get mandatory tests. A recent article, for example, pointed out that some Starbucks employees had to get them(!) Why? Because of the wording in a regulation referring to 다방 - Korean style "coffee shops" with a historical connection to sex work. Notice the same article says the practice was called "irrational" by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission of Korea.
A study that is immediately relevant to this question was released in 2009 by the Korea National Institute of Health Division of AIDS & the Korea Center for Disease Control. [Link].
According to that study, there were a total of 280,456 HIV tests in 2005. You can see for yourself that 480,000 public school teachers don't fit anywhere in there.
Ben W said,
"Unlike AIDS, MRSA is transmitted through normal everyday contact. That means simple skin-to-skin contact, or even contact with surfaces or shared item. In other words the type of contact you mean when you say "we come into contact with children everyday." "
Maybe someone should tell the jimjilbang and gym owners about this so they will start cleaning the hairbrush that everyone reuses.
I am one of the teachers at SMOE who had to resubmit my AIDS and drug test when I renewed my contract this year. I chose not to rabble rouse directly because I didn't think it would do much good. It doesn't bother me to see negative results for those tests, and I would rather my school know I'm one of the good teachers.
That being said, the vast unrest that is spreading through SMOE teachers now (concerning more "policies" that seem to violate the contracts) could easily turn this into a "stand together issue" and have SMOE backing up against the proverbial wall.
After reading your position more thoroughly, I withdraw my counter-arguments. However, there's one thing I'd like to get your clarification on.
In your paper you suggest that F-4 Visa holders are not held to the same level of scrutiny because they are of Korean heritage.
Yet, you do not mention that F-4 Visa holders are open to the draft. However, E-2 visas holders and I say 'Generally' (because it doesn't always apply), do not have to worry about conscription.
Military Service is generally considered an obligation of citizenship. In this case Korea is extending its ownership over ethnic Koreans to fulfill the same obligations as citizens. And in a way Korea is providing compensation for this.
In your legal opinion, does this justify additional rights compared to E-2 visa holders who will not be drafted?
A Public Health Issue?
I know a foreign university prof. who waged a personal battle for having soap and dry towels in the bathrooms where she worked for over two years. She was deadly serious about it and stepped on a lot of toes arguing with the administration about it. They refused to accommodate her and she retaliated by posting flyers (in Korean!) in the bathrooms asking the students to demand soap and dry towels in the name of good health.
Most of her foreign co-workers (and embarrassing myself included) found her behavior pretty cringe-worthy. We begged her to just let it be, this was Korea after all and they could run things as they pleased.
She'd argue back saying 'this isn't about culture, it's about about health. Students need soap in the damn bathrooms, could anything be more basic?'
We all thought she was a bit of a nutter... Then the swine flu thing hit, and well - we got soap (no towels yet though).
To her credit she never rubbed anyone's nose in it. And to the admin's credit they admitted that she'd raised a good point and they should have listened to her.
Moral of the story - it's rare that you see real practical concern for the health and safety of students.
No time for soap in the damn bathrooms but plenty of time to have foreign teachers tested for AIDS.
Public health issue, my ass.
you do not mention that F-4 Visa holders are open to the draft.
Not all of them by a long shot.
In your legal opinion, does this justify additional rights compared to E-2 visa holders who will not be drafted?
No, it wouldn't. All humans are entitled to the basic set of human rights.
But that doesn't mean that I think the F-4s and E-2s should be treated the same. I pointed that out in the NHRCK complaint in footnote 211 on page 58. The F-4 should legitimately be able to enjoy a variety of privileges.
But it wouldn't make sense to argue that F-4s should be able to avoid legitimate precautionary measures that are designed to protect kids because they have "additional rights". For example, excluding a Korean-American from undergoing a criminal background check when they are working with kids as a teacher. Precautionary measures for kids aren't designed to figure out which visa holder has more status or privileges than the other. They are designed to protect the kids - so naturally everyone gets checked out.
I think Jason Lim argued this point well in his article "Illusion about Protection". He said exempting F-4s from a criminal check "assumes that a Korean-American English teacher is less of a threat to a Korean child than a white-American English teacher. Just because his or her parents happened to be Korean? It's unjustifiable."
But let me clear, we are just talking about if an F-4 and an E-2 are doing the same job - working as a teacher of kids. If you happen to pick up a job working as a consultant at McKinsey there's no reason why you should be at all concerned about teacher requirements. That's another neat thing about the F-4 visa, it's portable. And this is an aspect of "additional rights" that you can legitimately enjoy.
But keep in mind that the F-4 is not an uncontroversial visa. It fact the Constitutional Court found it to be discriminatory as applied to other ethnic Koreans (i.e. Chinese and Russian) who don't get your privileges. (Legal Status of Overseas Koreans Case, 99Hun-Ma494) Under the original draft of the Overseas Korean Act some ethnic Koreans didn't qualify as an "overseas Korean" eligible for your very unique and privileged visa, which included only the wealthy, skilled and well-educated ethnic Koreans of Japan and the US.
For the record, I am strongly in favor of an ethnic Korean visa (with all its attendant privileges) and I think it has a solid justification in international law, but I agree with the Con. Crt. that it needs to be revised to include other ethnic Koreans in order to avoid violating the Constitution.
The issue is extremely complex obviously, but if you are interested you could check out Jaeeun Kim's very thorough examination of it in
"Incorporating the 'Nation Abroad': The Politics of Membership in South Korea."
Guys and girls,
The BBC run a daily news/discussion programme called 'World Have Your Say' which reaches around 80 million people.
Please e-mail them to ask that they spend an episode dealing with racism in Korea, in particular the Neo Nazi hate group 'Anti-English Spectrum' and their recent move into paramilitary and terrorist acts of violence and death threats against foreign and Korean nationals.
worldhaveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
http://worldhaveyoursay.wordpress.com/suggest-a-debate/
all Korean nationals get AIDS tests as Kushibo suggests.
I did not say all Korean nationals get AIDS tests.
I said that Korean nationals are subject to regular health checkups that I have been told by health professionals include HIV screening.
Even if what I've been told is correct, it would not be possible that "all" would be subject to HIV screening. There is a patchwork of policies that includes HIV checks for military conscripts, HIV checks for blood donations (which are virtually mandatory for many serving in the military), and there are annual checkups for large portions of the population who work for certain corporations, the government, schools, etc. (Again, I've been told those exams often/typically include HIV screening, but I have to see that verified.)
The number who have ever been tested may be in the tens of millions, though the number who are tested regularly may be much smaller.
This has not been an easy thing to check out. I'm considering addressing some of this in my doctoral dissertation, but getting information from abroad is difficult. I spent last summer holed up in Starbucks doing work for my employer instead of doing research on this and a few other academic things.
The patchwork nature of HIV testing at whatever level it exists makes it difficult to say, okay X percent of the population is routinely tested and Y percent has been tested at least once.
But I would like to ask a hypothetical: Is there a degree of routine, expected, or mandatory testing in South Korea at which point you would say, "Okay, HIV screening is happening at a sufficient level among ROK nationals that it's reasonable to expect E2 visa holders to be tested"? Or if not just E2s, then all foreign nationals (including F-series)?
Or is the issue HIV testing itself, and you (or other readers) feel that any requirement for HIV testing should be scrapped?
I started to write a really long bunch of questions related to the above two, but it got long, so I turned it into a post on its own (it's off the main topic here, so that's why I'm linking to that instead of going here, this being about AES and Canadian radio).
I'm genuinely curious if there is a consensus that can be reached that will reasonably address concerns about fairness, privacy, and public health.
Kushibo
What you list appears that HIV testing is mandated because the given activity has a reasonable risk of transmitting blood borne diseases. Do they test for Hep as well? If Hep and HIV are both routine, then one still would question why HIV testing only is given to foreign teachers?
Clearly you want to test blood donors. Clearly you want to test conscripts. War is a rather bloody endeavor.
Your argument is simply a fallacy, notably so if Koreans are routinely tested for HIV, Hep, and lets not forget TB. If Koreans are really worried, they should be testing for TB long, long before they test for HIV.
Meanwhile Facebook group "Dismantle the AES" racks up 500 members!
E-mail sent to the BBC's programme 'World Have Your Say'
Dear WHYS,
I've been keen listener to your show for a couple of years now in my adopted home of South Korea. I'm originally from the UK but have lived here for over three years and one thing I've noticed about your show is that you very rarely (if ever) cover issues about the Far East. More often the focus tends to be North America/Europe/Africa or occasionally the Middle East.
One issue I'd like to suggest for WHYS is the exreme nationalism and xenophobia faced by foreigners in South Korea in whose schools children were taught until as recently as five years ago that Korea was a 'pure blood race'.
The issue of socially acceptable racism in South Korea has come to a fore in the last couple of years with the ultra-nationalism group, the Anti-English Spectrum (AES) who amongst other things have been accused of stalking foreign English teachers, issuing death threats and threats of violence towards foreigners and have even had access to senior government minister in drafting immigration policy which compels all foreign English teachers of non-Korean ethnicity to undergo annual AIDS tests and submit annual criminal background checks (this does not apply to Korean teachers or foreigners of Korean ethnicity such as Korean Americans).
The CBC in Canada ran feature about the AES on their morning flagship current affairs program 'The Current' on CBC Radio 1 a couple of weeks ago and since then their has been considerable coverage in Canadian press and indeed the blogosphere in general.
At the moment there are over 20,000 officially registered native English teachers resident in Korea including myself with many thousands more who teach 'privates' though they are not officially registered.
I would be most grateful to WHYS if you would look into the possibility of this topic for a show and perhaps talk about why racism, which in Western society is socially unacceptable in the mainstream, is quite tolerated and even encouraged in mainstream media in east Asia, notibly Japan and to an extreme degree in Korea where national daily newspapers have published press released from the AES group.
I have pasted a number of links below for you to follow and perhaps research this topic. I regret that I must keep my name confidential at the moment. The atmosphere in South Korea against English teachers has reached fever pitch and numerous bloggers, commentators and anti-racist activists such as Andrea Vandom who has a case in the the Korean supreme court, have been threatened with deportation, violence or even death in the case of the President of ATEK (The Association of Teachers of English in Korea).
I have pasterd the CBC podcast link of their radio feature on ultranationalism and persecution of foreigners by the AES to this e-mail.
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/podcast.html
Research links:
http://populargusts.blogspot.com/2009/12/cbc-radio-reports-on-anti-english.html
http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/2009/12/foreign-teachers-fear-and-xenophobia-in.html
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=mf&gid=180157671889#
http://www.rjkoehler.com/2009/12/11/watch-your-back-teachers/
http://populargusts.blogspot.com/2009/12/anti-english-spectrum-in-epoch-times.html
Nice work vikinginseoul!
It looks like either the BBC did something on it, or somebody on the AES read your letter here, because there's a post on the AES cafe about the BBC. Can't view the post because I'm mot a member of the cafe, though, but I think it'd be awesome to get that coverage.
"the Anti-English Spectrum (AES) who amongst other things have been accused of stalking foreign English teachers, issuing death threats and threats of violence towards foreigners"
True, they have been accused of this.
"The atmosphere in South Korea against English teachers has reached fever pitch and numerous bloggers, commentators and anti-racist activists such as Andrea Vandom who has a case in the the Korean supreme court, have been threatened with deportation, violence or even death in the case of the President of ATEK (The Association of Teachers of English in Korea)."
True, he was threatened.
You have done a nice job of remaining factual about the death threat, even if we don't know who is actually involved and there is good reason to believe that no AES member had anything to do with it.
South Korea in whose schools children were taught until as recently as five years ago that Korea was a 'pure blood race'.
Does anybody have a Korean-language link to back up this statement? Or at least can anyone tell me the Korean-language wording of "pure-blood race" that was used?
They used 한민족. The reference to pure blood was not included in the texts by the time I arrived in the mid 90s. I would bet that pure blood was emphasised earlier and was later toned down.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
Michael wrote:
They used 한민족.
한민족 means "single ethnicity," and given that ethnicity is defined not just by genetic characteristics but also cultural and linguistic characteristics, that's a far more defensible statement that whatever would be translated as "pure blood race."
In fact "pure blood race" seems to have been deliberately translated by a non-native Korean speaker for maximum effect, even though it gets far from the original intent.
Things like "four seasons" are (were?) carried in English in Korea's textbooks. Was "pure blood race" carried in that form in an English textbook? (And the "four seasons" references don't say Korea is the only one like that; it's just a description of the country, like saying California has a Mediterranean climate, which I learned in sixth grade growing up in California.)
The reference to pure blood was not included in the texts by the time I arrived in the mid 90s. I would bet that pure blood was emphasised earlier and was later toned down.
Well, hanmijok has been emphasized as a tool of national unity (among South Koreans) and national reunification (among all Koreans) since, I believe, the end of the Korean War. Hannara is a similar concept.
Now you say that hanminjok not included in the mid-1990s, which was over ten years ago (my thought it was there earlier this decade, but it would make sense that it were phased out around the beginning of someone's administration, either Kim Daejung's around 1998 or Roh Moohyun's around 2003 (this is speculation).
So if it was gone ten years ago (if!) why is this being repeated (not just by vikinginseoul) that it appeared as recently as five years ago? And why is "한민족" being written up in English as "pure blood race"?
While looking up references to "pure blood race," this academic paper came up, so I emailed the authoring professor, who gave me a speedy reply:
Although "pure blood race" can be translated as 순수한 혈통, in school students are taught as 단일민족, meaning a single race.
Though I believe I have seen 한민족 as a stand-in for 단일민족, I don't think either of these is accurately translated as "pure blood race."
단일 suggests being single or unified, while 민족 simply means ethnicity. In older English, 민족 was also translated as "race," as in the German race, the Irish race, etc., and this is how the term "racism" came to be and is still applied toward, say, a Chinese person hating Vietnamese, a Korean person hating Chinese, a Japanese hating Koreans, etc.
But in modern parlance, it would be ethnicity, and 단일민족 or 한민족 would be far more accurately (and far less inflammatorily) as "single ethnicity."
Kushibo - That's some keen research, but I don't really see your distinction between 'race' and 'ethnicity'. Just because one word is an old-fashioned way of saying the other, it doesn't change the intention. 'Single ethnicity' is simply a euphemistic, 'politically cleansed' term for 'one race'.
It's interesting too that the same claims of 'one country, one race, one blood, one history' are also used in North Korean propaganda. Does anyone know how old the idea of 'one-ness' as a political tool is?
ken? how do we know each other?
rich? lol
balls.
ken! just facebooked kens i know. . .cross ref'd w korea and the show and what do you know - each other.
cools yo, hope schools going well. hope to get a chat in with rich
you know him?
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