Friday, September 18, 2009

The achievements of Anti-English Spectrum

There's been some debate as to just how influential 'The Citizen's Movement to Expel Illegal Foreign Language teachers,' better known to English-speaking expats as Anti-English Spectrum, actually is. Why not let them answer the question? For several years, Anti-English Spectrum has been maintaining a list of their accomplishments, which can be found here (first result). Thanks to Benjamin Wagner for finding and translating this; I added the article titles, links and annotations.

[Updates to this post were added in April 2012.]

__________

I would like to announce our internet cafe’s achievements and past footprints (for the benefit of first-time visitors).

2005.01.12
Anti-English Spectrum established, brought up problems with low quality native English teachers for the first time. Exposed to the world the English xxxx [Spectrum] site that is ruining our country.

[Here is how the site looked when it began (with photos from the Sexy Costume Party):]


[Here is how the site looked in 2006:]

Banner: 'Our homeland is protected by the blood of our ancestors'
The writing above is their statement of purpose, translated here.

[They fail to mention that the reason they started was because members of English Spectrum posted photos of what the Chosun Ilbo described as
a “sexy costume party” held at [the] Mary Jane club [in] November [2004]. Some 70 percent of the participants were Korean men and women, while the rest were foreign men and women.
Some of the women in the photos were harassed to the point that some of them needed psychological counseling, as I mentioned in this post, and which is also mentioned here. On January 13 Anti-English Spectrum also found and translated a year-and-a-half-old post from Korean ESL titled "How to Mollest[sic] your Students." By the next day several internet news outlets had reported on it.]

"An English teacher bastard's guide to molesting
Korean children (found by chance)"

2005.02 [Incorrect - actually 2005.01.30]
MBC 2580 current affairs program and morning news. Participated in shooting reports on English teachers. [Links: English Korean]

2005.02.19
Fully participated and joined in on the coverage of SBS’s 그것이 알고 싶다 [I Want To Know That] “Blond and Blue-eyed English Teachers.” [Links: English Korean, SBS page]

[This show opens with the following re-enactment of the "How to Mollest[sic] your Students" post that Anti-English Spectrum had translated and disseminated a month earlier.]



2005.02 (end)
Conducted 3 separate campaigns in front of Hongdae, Myongdong, Shinchon and Seoul Girls Highschool). [Campaigns to oust illegal native English teachers]
[Link: First result here]




2005.01 to present
Submitted countless [hundreds of] petitions to the MOJ, Immigration, Supreme Prosecutor’s Office and Education Ministry.
[resulting in]
- strengthened E-2 visa related documents at Immigration
- active and full-blown crackdown operations on illegal English teachers by related organizations
- southern district prosecutor’s office deported 69 fake academic credential teachers in Oct. 2005

2005.01 to present
Extensive efforts in trying to get press on the problems and disorder regarding native English teachers. Scores of articles were published/broadcast! (MBC, SBS, Kookmin Ilbo, Dailian, Hankook Ilbo, Breaknews, The Korea Economic Daily, The Women’s News, etc…)

2005 - 2005.12
Conducted campaigns to prohibit illegal native speakers to teach and appear on TV.

2005.11
Visited Information and Communications Ministry, Ethics Committee to request that the native English teacher job search site English xxxx be punished for posting obscenities.
[That Ministry he mentions -정보통신부 doesn’t exist anymore - it is now split into four separate Ministries and Commissions – he may have meant the Korea Communications Commission.]

2005.01 to present
Successfully reported and closed down native English teacher sites and sites with posts that degrade women in Korean society.

2005.01 to present
Collected information and exposed illegal native English teachers and reported them to related institutes (cannot disclose).

2006.07
Visited the National Assembly (assemblyman Lee Joo-ho, etc) to request a bill to strengthen checks on native English teacher management policies / plans.

2006 to present
Efforts made to build opposing public opinion against the lowering of standards regarding qualifications for native English speakers by certain people involved in the English education market. Received confirmation from Education Ministry and Offices of Education that qualification standards will be strengthened.

2006.08
Participated in National Assembly public hearing (held by assemblyman Lee Joo-ho) regarding English education and delivered our Internet cafe’s position on the matter - emphasized that budgets concentrated on foreign assistant teachers should be used to support Korean English teachers and English students.

2006.08
Cooperated and participated in TV broadcast programs regarding problems with low quality, unqualified native English teachers.
2006.08.25
SBS 'Seven Days': "Unverified foreign English teachers, a danger to children" [Link]
KBS 'Center of the World': "Are native speaking English teachers really trustworthy/reliable?" [Link])
2006.09.01
KBS2 'VJ Special Forces': "The war against foreign crime" [Link]

SBS: "Unverified foreign English teachers, a danger to children" (John Mark Karr)

Made the native English teacher blacklist into an issue [in the news] (Breaknews).


[Though only the English Teacher Blacklist Breaknews article is mentioned above, Breaknews (or 'Inside Story' in its newspaper edition) did six different articles about English teachers from July to September of 2006, including:

07.24 “Low-quality foreign teachers absorbed in money, women, drugs.” [Link]
08.07 "Low quality English teachers: 'Korean women are a source of money and sex partners'" [Link]
08.16 "Women give English teachers 'full service like a king'"[Link]
08.21 "Affairs with High School Students, Spreading Nude Photos on the Internet" [Links: English Korean]
09.12 "Foreign teachers demand mothers in substitution for tutoring fees." [Link]
09.18 "Tracking [down] blacklisted foreign teachers suspected of having AIDS" [Links: English Korean]

Several other stories would follow from Breaknews over the years. All of the above articles mention 'tipster' Mr Kim (or Mr. K) and/or Anti-English Spectrum. In a November 2006 Breaknews article, Mr. K also makes comments, and is described as "Low quality native speaking teacher deportation site manager Mr. K," suggesting this is a pseudonym for Lee Eun-ung. Two days before that article appeared, an older BreakNews article was reposted at Anti-English Spectrum, and in the comments, members thanked 'Mr. Kim'. 'M2' - the ID of Lee Eun-ung, the manager and public face of the site - coyly wrote "I'm curious about Mr. Kim;..." Regular poster 'jasminhyang' later wrote in a comment "the first letter of Mr. Kim's nickname is 'm'."

In the last Breaknews article listed above, 'Mr. Kim' suggests that “E-2 visa requirements should be strengthened. … A medical check certificate (including AIDS) should be added to the documents required for an E-2 visa.” All of these articles were announced on the Anti-English Spectrum website; considerable excitement was shown by Lee Eun-ung about the AIDS article being published, getting their 'English Teacher = AIDS infected' message into "broadcasts, in newspapers, on subways and in convenience stores."

(I looked at this more closely here)]

2006.09
Brought attention of Education Ministry and Offices of Education to our endless problems regarding low-quality native English teachers. Made countless contacts with Assemblyman Lee Ju-ho and related officials at the National Assembly Education Committee to alert them to the dangers of low-quality native English teachers. Bills are currently being prepared to prohibit low-quality native English teachers from flowing into schools.
[Article titles (dead links):]
"Ministry of Education: Currently preparing to establish an organization to stop low-quality native English teachers from flowing into schools."
Ohmynews: "Education Committee Assemblyman Lee Ju-ho’s English Education Special Support Bill"

2006.11
Constructed an in-depth report and a report collecting victim cases regarding low-quality native English teachers. Distributed these reports to policymakers, including the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee’s Education Committee, and native speaking English teacher policy commissioners at Education Offices all over the country.

2007.01
Personally went on location to shoot a report on the problems with Hongdae Club Day, the gathering place of low-quality foreigner English teachers, for the purpose of broadcasts and press exposure. Breaknews, YTN broadcast the report numerous times by the hour. A barrage of civil petitions were sent to Mapo Police Station, and after the news broadcast, the police announced that it would implement a crackdown.[YTN: "Hongdae, Foreigner 'Lawless Zone'" - links: English Korean]

2007.02
After our cafe’s broadcast went out on the atrocious behaviors of foreigners at Hongdae clubs, Commander Bell’s U.S. forces in Korea were completely prohibited from entering Hongdae clubs.
[YTN: "U.S. Forces Banned from Hongdae" - links: English Korean]

2007.05.27
[Omitted from this list is another propaganda success by the group in tying English teachers to AIDS. As Lee wrote in February 2009:
In spring of 2007, our group received a tip from a woman who wanted help. A teacher from Australia threatened her, saying he’d had sex without a condom in southeast Asia and she should be careful of AIDS, too. The tip also said the teacher was loitering around her place, trying to terrify her. After this writer and others pursued him with the cooperation of relevant authorities, he was finally arrested by police in the capital region after living at a guest house in Seoul.
Sports Chosun: "From molestation to AIDS threats - Shocking perversion of some English teachers; Beware the 'Ugly White Teacher.'" [Links: English Korean]
Chosun Ilbo: “White English Teacher Threatens Korean Woman with AIDS.”[Links: Korean English]

2007.06
Cable network Olive TV's “Pandora’s Box with Park Hae-mi.” Collaborated and cooperated in filming 10th episode of Pandora’s Box – “Attention! Low-quality Lecherous Foreign Teachers!” Scored the biggest ratings record in the history of Olive TV.

"Illegal foreign instructors are violating Korean women!!!"

2007.07
Cooperated with related organizations to track, conduct stakeouts on and report numerous low-quality teachers with forged academic credentials, and successfully made disclosures and arrests. The process took months. Included in KBS, SBS, YTN main news. Reported in real time during news broadcasts. Maeil Economic Daily, CBS, No Cut News, Kyunghyang Daily, Yonhap News, Segye Ilbo, Chosun Ilbo, etc…
Links:
SBS: "Faked backgrounds, molestation...'Wonderful native-speaking teachers.'" [Link]
MBC: "Native speaking teacher, Low quality teachers" [Link]
KBS: "Unqualified English teacher arrests" [Link]
YTN: "Faked Background - unqualified foreign teachers remain unchanged." [Link]

[An English language report about this is here.]

2007.07
Visited the Ministry of Justice Immigration Service for a meeting. Requested health check reports to be included in the E-2 visa renewal process. Emphasized that health check reports are the only legal safety measures that can stop the drug activities of foreign English teachers in Korea beforehand.

2007.08
Collected information regarding low-quality drug-using foreign English teachers and tracked down their dwellings. Closely cooperated with related organizations to disclose 22 drug offenders, the majority of whom were foreign English teachers, and had them arrested.

This was featured on KBS, MBC, SBS, YTN, and made headlines in Korean newspapers.
KBS: "Teachers on drugs in English class uncovered." [Link]
SBS: "'Stoned lecture"; A heap of native speaking teachers uncovered."[Link]
NoCutNews: "To foreign English teachers, Korea is a depraved heaven." [Link]
YTN (link dead)

2007.09
KBS 2TV “In-Depth 60 Minutes” 1st segment “What is the problem with these Native Speaker Teachers with Forged Degrees?” Actively participated in covering the story and providing info., cooperating and providing advice through interview. Emphasized the need for health check reports and criminal background check reports, which is the major focus issue of our cafe. [Link]


2007.09
Visited National Assembly and had meeting with Assemblyman Shin Hak-yong and his group. Emphasized that an verification system must be enacted as law regarding unqualified foreign teachers. Received a positive response saying that an amendment is being prepared regarding immigration laws to stop unqualified teachers.

[On October 16, 2007 it was found out that Christopher Paul Neil had taught in Korea. That day, a story appeared on MBC news which Anti-English Spectrum took credit for. It was also broadcast in this news report, which followed a story about Neil with the segue, "Yes, problems surrounding foreign instructors are never-ending..."]



2007.10.21
Received an award of thanks from Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in celebration of Police Day. Received this award for contributing immensely to police operations. [The award] was a recognition for our efforts in disclosing foreign English teachers with forged academic degrees and drug offenses.


2007.10.23
Was invited to attend meeting with Ministry of Justice. Meeting title: “A Meeting with Experts and Related Organizations regarding Foreign Native Speaker Conversation Teaching (E-2) Teachers.” Emphasized that health check reports, criminal offense reports should be included in documents required when native speaker teachers enter the country. Related organizations expressed agreement and said that these would be reflected in policies. Requested that unjust profits should be recovered when punishing illegal native English teachers, and surcharges [monetary fines?] should be greatly increased.


[The bottom of the poster shows the list of participants at this significant meeting, including officials from the Ministry of Justice, the foreign-policy division of the Immigration Office, representatives from the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. From private sector we find the Director of the Association of Foreign Language Academies and Lee Eun-ung, chairman of the Citizens' Movement to Expel Illegal Foreign Language teachers.]

2007.10.26
Visited National Assembly to meet with assemblyman Min Byung-doo and his group, and emphasized the need for a strengthened verification system regarding unqualified native speaker English teachers and an increase in budget to support Korean English teachers as fundamental solution.

2007.10.27
The Ministry of Justice announced that starting from December, native speaker English teachers will be required to submit health check reports and criminal background check reports in regard to E-2 visa procedures.
KBS: "Foreign Teacher with Criminal Record Entry Restriction" [Link]
YTN: "Native Speaking Teacher Criminal Record Check Requirement" [Link]
SBS: "Foreign Teacher's Criminal Record must be Confirmed for Entry" [Link]

E-2 Policy Memo

2007.12.15
The Ministry of Justice, Immigration Service announced a new E-2 visa related enforcement ordinance, providing basis [for new] visa [procedures]. It was announced that [visa procedures were to include health check reports (drugs, AIDS, STDs) and criminal background checks, thus cutting off the flow of unqualified foreign teachers [into Korea].

2007.12.28
KBS 2TV “VJ Special Forces” episode 375 segment "Protect the Republic of Korea! Foreigner Crimes are a Top Priority Emergency.” [Link] Participated in the shooting of the program and helped in getting it broadcast. Provided information regarding the gathering places of low-quality foreigner teachers and illegal teaching activities. Alerted the people to the ugly behaviors of unqualified foreigner English teachers and cooperated with [the program] “VJ Special Forces” for two years straight.

2008.01.28
Interview with Kyunghyang Daily’s weekly current affairs magazine “Newsmaker.” Explained the falsity of claims by hagwon recruiters regarding E-2 visa policy enforcement laws and also delivered our concerned views. Feb. 5th, 2008, No. 761, page 46. "Native speaking teacher 'inadequate supply?'" [Link]


2008.03.21
Interview with MBC’s “Son Seok-hee’s Viewpoint Focus” Alerted the people to our café’s activities and the problems with illegal teachers. The “Viewpoint Focus” website put up an email address for people to report illegal foreigner teachers, together with our cafe’s Internet address.
[Link to interview transcription - first result here]

2008.03.24
MBC "Live Broadcast Topic Focus" program, “Situation Report on Native Speaker English Teachers; Do We Know Our Children's English Teachers?” Provided info and cooperation, participated in supporting broadcasting efforts. Received thanks from writer/PD saying “This could not have been broadcast without the help of your organization.” Alerted the people of problems with illegal foreigner teachers. [Link]

2008.04.26
SBS and 3 other networks broadcast reports. Exposed 9 people, including cannabis-smoking native speaker English teachers at a well-known hagwon in Ilsan and employment brokers. Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency arrested these people. Our group tracked down these people for 100 days in cooperation with relevant agencies, and also conduced a 17-day stakeout to solve this case. Was able to get reports broadcasted regarding the MOJ’s E-2 visa policies that exclude cannabis tests, and drew attention to the issue. Submitted petitions to relevant institutes. Requested to relevant institutes that these policies in error be fixed. Received apologies in response.
SBS: "With no Marijuana Test, More Pot-smoking Native Speaking Teachers Uncovered" [Link]
CBS: "More [Pot] Smoking Teachers... Regular [Pot] Smoking Native Speaker Arrested" [Link]



2008.05.04
Booked 10 people including teachers with forged degrees and those involved in illegal job placement , etc., and these included the arrest of two 2 foreign teachers who were charged with forged degrees, laundered nationalities and sexually molesting a high school student. Broadcast on MBC, SBS, Yonhap.
Yonhap: "Unqualified native speaking teacher with fake degrees, nationality exposed" [Link]
MBC: "Unqualified native speaking teacher with fake degrees, nationality exposed" [Link]

2008.07.08
KBS news reported on illegal unqualified foreigner teachers that we exposed. Tracked down an unqualified teacher with an STD and reported to him Immigration Service. Based on information on this person, 6 unqualified teachers, brokers and about 40 hagwons that employed such teachers were exposed, according to responses to us by related organizations.
KBS: "Fake native speaking English teacher exposed." [Link]

2008.08
Together with Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, captured 3 native speaker teachers involved in cultivating cannabis, and brought them to court. Three Canadian teachers were arrested right before trying to leave the country. Using equipment in their homes, they were involved in growing and smoking cannabis.

2008.09.04
Raised attention to the issue of [sexual] relationships involving money with foreigner teachers on the KBS program “World’s Morning.” Cooperated by providing much information and advice, and was interviewed on behalf of the group.

2008.09.29
Attended Meeting held by Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Dept. of External Affairs to devise countermeasures regarding foreigner crimes, and delivered our opinions. Asserted that [procedures for] questioning of suspicious persons [by police] should be permanently established in order to be protected from foreigner crimes. Requested information exchange regarding the residences of problematic foreigners, in collaboration with the Immigration Service. Requested that foreigner crimes be dealt with strictly.

2008.11
Cooperated with Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Dept. of External Affairs, and exposed a foreigner teacher with forged academic degrees who had been illegally sojourning and hiding out for 12 years. Also, a group working illegally as a teacher employment agency through the Internet for many years was booked without detention. This was made into news reports and articles through countless press and broadcasting outlets. Interview with MBC’s "World's Morning" [sic - actually "This Morning"]

MBC: Native speaking English teacher with fake degree from U.S. university arrested" [Link]
Herald News: "Korean society is too easy on white people." [Link]
CBS: "Native speaking teacher with faked academic background." [Link]



2008.11
Video interview with Seoul Shinmun. “Drug-using Foreigner Teacher Caught After 150-Day Stakeout” This article alerted our group’s activities and purpose to the people and received much support and encouragement. [Links: English Korean Video of Lee]


2009.01
Exposed & deported a foreigner professor with a previous sexual crime record. Found out information on the sex crime records of the professor, who was working at the English and English Literature Dept. of a university in Daejeon, and reported it to relevant institutes. Got him ousted from Korea.
"'Shocking' - American teacher convicted of child molestation teaching at a university in Korea" CBS, Chosun Ilbo, Kyunghyang Shinmun [all have the above title; also Korea Times]

2009.01.14
Had meeting with Representative (Assemblywoman) Choi Young-Hee of the National Assembly Youth (Juvenile) Committee, and requested that the E-1 visa [procedures] include criminal background check reports. Requested that a reporting system be established that will allow the mandatory reporting by hagwons to Offices of Education whenever sex crimes by foreigner teachers occur. [Link]




2009.01.30
Daejeon KBS Chungcheong Patrol Program, “The Two Faces of Foreigner English Teachers” was broadcast. [Link (page 2)] Cooperated and participated in the shooting of the program and also did interviews. Alerted the Chungcheong[-do] area of the problems of foreigner teachers and professors, and exposed the problems of E-1 visas (professor visas). Played a decisive role in deporting a foreigner professor who had a sex crime past.

2009.02.15, 02.19
In order to notify the people of the unfounded falsehood of the petition submitted to the NHRCK regarding the AIDS and drug testing of foreigner teachers, we personally created articles that were then published in Seoul Shinmun, Weekly Kyunghyang.
Seoul Shinmun: “Do AIDS Tests for Foreign Teacher Constitute Discrimination?” [Link]
Weekly Kyunghyang: “Do Drug Tests for Foreigner Teachers Constitute Discrimination?” [Links: English Korean]

2009.03.24
Brought the attention of the chief of investigation at Immigration Service to the issue of discrepancies between foreigner addresses on record with the Immigration Service and their actual addresses, explaining that this difference causes too much time wasted when tracking down unqualified foreigner teachers in cooperation with relevant investigative agencies. Requested that improvements be made regarding this difficulty. Intensive discussions and examinations regarding this issue will be conducted during policy meetings scheduled in the latter half of this year.

2009.05.08
Proved the falsity of claims by foreigner teachers saying that Koreans are distorting [facts about] foreigner teachers, and their claims that AIDS and drug tests are discriminatory. Seoul [Metropolitan Police] Agency External Affairs exposed drug-using foreigner teachers. (this was broadcast).
MBC: "Native speaking teachers who regularly take drugs uncovered" [Link]
YTN: "Drug smoking native speaking teachers" [Link]
MBN: "Foreign teachers smoked drugs prior to elementary school class" [Link]

[Not mentioned here is that the same day, a Police report of Drug arrests for March and April was released, and most articles focused on a (Korean) high school teacher and minister who had been arrested. The only newspaper article (as opposed to TV networks) which focused on the arrest of 6 English teachers was a Donga Ilbo article written by Lee Mi-ji, who is mentioned on the Anti-English Spectrum site. On May 20, this reporter wrote another article featuring an interview with Lee Eun-ung, who called for teachers to be detained after every arrest.]

2009.06.29
Chosun Ilbo created great waves through society by extensively reporting about our group, and struck a responsive chord with relevant institutes and the Korean people, while also stirring up feelings of caution.
[The series, by Chosun.com intern reporter Choi Hui-seon, was titled 'Native speaking teacher frauds."]
"The sex crimes of native speaking teachers who don't distinguish between young students and female coworkers" [English Korean]
"'[We're] Substitutes for married women's husbands...' The demeaning words of some native speaking teachers." [Links English Korean]
"Can even high school dropouts live in Korea?" [Links: English Korean]
"Foreigner with 9 crimes on his record professor at distinguished Korean university" [Links: English Korean]
"Native speaking teachers only protest articles criticizing them without reflection" [Links: English Korean]

2009.07
14 native speaker teacher foreigners were arrested on gambling and drug charges. Korean people were alerted to the seriousness of the matter.
KBS: "''Out of Control Foreigner English Teacher' Teaches Class while High and Commits Sexual Molestation." [Link]
MBC: "'Regular gambling/drug use' - Many foreign teachers booked" [Link]
MBN: "Many foreign English teachers stained by drugs and gambling exposed" [Link]

2009.08.24
In Weekly Chosun No. 2069, [I] contributed an article under the title "Advice from an Activist involved in the Movement to Expel Illegal Foreign Language Teachers." [Here I] point out and discuss problems such as distortions about native speaker teachers and various points of view toward them. [Links: English Korean]

2009 September
In preparation for a National Assembly parliamentary audit, we received a request for cooperation with data from the members of the education committee. We submitted data such as a list if unfit instructors and problems with and alternatives to measures related to administering them. At the request of the auditing institution we submitted a list of unfit instructors.

[Who knows if this had anything to do with GNP Rep. Park Min-sik saying, "The flood of unqualified native speaking teachers is the Government’s responsibility," or GNP Rep. Lee Ju-yeong saying, "Of foreigners, native speaking teachers are especially potential child molesters" during the parliamentary audit that fall.]

2009.11.26-27
Interviews with MBC radio "Kim Mi-hwa's Our World" and the TBS traffic broadcast "Seoul Plaza." [Due to] the serious problems with unfit foreign instructors and gaps in their management, we requested that the marijuana test be included again in the in the E-2 visa. [We were] interviewed about solutions and awakened the attention of citizens to our group's achievements.

2009.10 - 2010.02
We stood up to the native speaking instructors' distorted and biased article about the "Citizens for upright English education." We conducted media activities to correct the distortion. Native speaking teachers recognized that citizen institutions support our group.
Korea Herald: "One year later, ATEK struggles for recognition" [See also the first post here, titled "We declare victory in the struggle".]
MBC Son Seok-hui Attention focus (mini interview)
2010.02.05 Donga Ilbo: "Is the 'Movement to Expel Bad English Teachers' stalking?" [Korean, English]
We forced the deletion of the foreign instructors' one-sided article.

[No they didn't. They threatened to sue the paper, which removed the images taken from AES's website that were originally published, but the article they're referring to is still here.]

2010.03.22 - 24
CBS "Kim Hyunjung's News Show" interview, MBN Live Today interview
Let citizens know about measures against and examples of harm [caused by] the problem of native speaking instructors' molestation of children.
'[Should] foreigners [who commit] sex crimes be deported?' Interview on the subject of CCTV installation. Interviewed live on the topic of 'What is the cause of native speaking teachers being unfit teachers?'

[A transcript of the CBS interview is here. I'll get around to translating it someday.]

2010.03.23
Gangster English instructor arrested for drugs and murder.
Cooperating with institutions for three months led to the arrest of a murdering, drug selling, degree-forging native speaking instructor. It led to 8 related English teachers being arrested.
We let citizens know about the problems of verifying native speaking instructors and national immigration policy. Public broadcasters YTN, SBS, KBS, and MBC all broadcast reports.

[Oddly enough they make no mention that Ronald Rhee, the teacher above wanted for murder in the US who was eventually extradited, had dual citizenship and was not subject to E-2 visa (or any visa) rules. Not deterred by this, several newspapers published (without direct AES influence) articles with titles like "The country where murderers and drug criminals teach English", "The Seriousness of Foreign Teachers’ Ugly Double Lives Cannot Be Measured", "It Doesn’t Matter Even if English Teachers are Criminals?", as well as an article calling for Choi Young-hee's bills to be passed.]

2010.04.12
Immigration amendment (submitting fingerprints and photos) passes in the National Assembly. Since the beginning of 2005 we have [tried to] raise awareness of the issue of unfit native speaking instructors [with] arrest[ing?] national institutions and each part of society [in regard to] the seriousness of managing native speaking instructors and have constantly raised the question of fingerprinting. The ministry of justice legalized the submitting of fingerprints and photographs by foreigners and foreign instructors.

2010.07.09
Interview on SBS radio show "Seo Du-won's SBS Viewpoint" about the dangers and child sex crimes of native speaking teachers and measures to prevent them. Stressed that E-2 visa be strengthened and a federal criminal record check included.

[A transcript of the interview is translated here.]

2010.07.11-12
The ministry of justice announces that E-2 visa requirements have been strengthened, and the native speaking instructors' movement to abolish the AIDS test was blocked. We achieved through our effort the strengthening of the E-2 visa for citizens. [We] made possible the re-inclusion of the marijuana test, the requiring of federal criminal record checks, and the continuance of the AIDS test.

[They link to (but do not take credit for) this NoCut News article, which is translated at the bottom of this post, and which asserts that "deviant and criminal acts by foreign teachers have become common."]

2010.09.15
"Are native speaking teachers introduced to Korean culture through drinking parties?" [Korean, English] Article about problems with the Gyeonggi Education Office's GEPIK native speaking instructor training program (drinking party) and examples of the problems and harm to Korean teachers caused by unfit native speaking assistant teachers.

2010.12.08
Through an education broadcast we blocked the false propaganda of the native speaking instructor group. On the EBS morning special (English education lecture) program we blocked the native speaking instructor's political plot and blocked the goal of native speaking teachers to have access to student listeners. [More information about the program can be found here (first result)]

2011.04.27
In the Seoul area native speaking instructors were arrested for smoking drugs. For 45 days we cooperated with institutions and brought about the arrest of a native speaking teacher working at an elementary school. The investigation is under way as police try to ascertain how many accomplices bought drugs from or smoked drugs with this instructor.

[This refers to this arrest in April, the first reported foreign teacher drug arrest in nine months. A May 21 post at their site has more details (first result).]

2011 April - July
The Gyeonggi Education Office bans instructors from bringing alcohol to native speaking instructor training. An article exposed the excessive drinking at the Gyeonggi Education Office's 2010 GEPIK native speaking instructor orientation and demanded the relevant institutions rectify this. The Gyeonggi Education Office prepared a guideline banning instructors from bringing alcohol from April 2011.

[More about this was mentioned here.]

2011, mid-July
Meeting with 1000 university students from four Seoul universities, making them aware of the truth about native speaking instructors and the harm to university students caused by the native speaking instructors' generous and undeserved benefits. Meetings with university students outside Seoul are scheduled.

2011.08.15
Made successful a Chosun Ilbo article about native speaking instructors taking and distributing new kinds of drugs.
"Drugs are entering through Yougle (Youtube + Google)" [Translated here]
Alerted the nation to the spread of new kinds of drugs by native speaking instructors via Youtube and Google. Reported 20 such sites spreading drugs to an agency.
2011 August to September (Enforcement scheduled)
The Ministry of Education passed legislation allowing the disclosure of [hagwon] instructor confirmation on relevant office of education homepages. Since 2008 our group has demanded agencies establish a system allowing parents to confirm instructors on relevant office of education homepages and finally this legislation was achieved.
http://cafe.naver.com/englishspectrum/11009

2011.09.29
The native speaking instructors' petition to find the foreigner health check (AIDS check) unconstitutional is rejected.
To maintain the native speaking instructor AIDS test, our group urged media who form public opinion, the MOJ, public corporations litigating for the government, the Regulatory Reform Commitee affiliated with the prime ministers office, etc. that strong measures were required.
The AIDS test for native speaking instructors is still maintained.
http://cafe.naver.com/englishspectrum/11062 [Click first result]


2011.12.07
Seoul Metropolitan Council plans to gradually phase out the SMOE native speaking English assistant teacher system.
The hiring budget for SMOE NSETs will be gradually reduced and by 2014 NSETs will be phased out in secondary schools. Our group constantly asked SMOE and Seoul city to switch over the NSET budget to support Korean English teachers.
[For more information see here.]
http://cafe.naver.com/englishspectrum/10621
http://cafe.naver.com/englishspectrum/11130

2011.12.09
Made possible the arrest and expulsion from the classroom of murderer, rapist, gangster native speaking instructors who faked their academic backgrounds. These criminal instructors were arrested and punished after a year of effort.
[They link to TV news reports by KBS, SBS and MBC. More information on this arrest is here.]

2011.12.13
Participated in SMOE English education forum.
Requested the wholesale reduction of instructors and cuts to the NSET budget
Requested thorough supervision of native speaking hagwon instructors.
Requested that the NSET budget be transferred to the budget for improving the capabilities of Korean teachers.

2011.12.15
Cooperated with MBC Live Broadcast This Morning
Interviewed about problems with low quality native speaking instructors, cooperated with broadcaster. Made parents aware of the seriousness of the problem.

2011.12.19
Seoul Metropolitan Council passes large scale cuts to the NSET budget
Native speakers will be reduced in High Schools from 2012, middle school NSETs from the middle of 2012
We achieved the final goal of our group
Filed many petitions with the MOE, National Assembly, human rights commission, citizen rights commission [?], etc. regarding reducing NSETs.


Our cafe’s biggest achievement is that we were able to bring to public consciousness and established public opinion - among our people and related organizations - regarding the problems associated with low-quality native speaker teachers. This all started with the help of your actions!!!

33 comments:

kushibo said...

Their (His?) self-described accomplishments smells like self-aggrandizement. Does his site have more pictures of him passing out flyers to passersby than of meetings with MOJ big wigs?

They may have some influence, though my contention is that they may not be as influential as the K-blogs generally have made them out to be. John Karr and Christopher Neil have probably provided more impetus for regulation changes than Mr Lee.

WORD VERIFICATION: up or sit

But that's really not so important a matter. Clearly he has enough influence that he's a go-to guy for lazy journalists at the KT and CSI, and insofar as he is apparently running a hate group, that should be put to a stop.

Among the stuff that he acknowledges on his site, what would constitute a hate crime or hate speech? How about in his television appearances or quotes in the printed media?

It's time to make a case against AES to a group like the National Human Rights Commission. Taint them like Acorn, preferably by hoisting him on his own petard.

Darth Babaganoosh said...

Surely, at the very least, he can be arrested for his stalking and surveillance activity, no?

He is not an officer of the law, so how exactly is such behaviour legal? Private detectives are not legal, why are his 100- and 150-day "stakeouts" okay?

K said...

a) Are you sure PIs are illegal?

b) Because they iz black. I mean white.

kushibo said...

ROK Hound wrote:
Surely, at the very least, he can be arrested for his stalking and surveillance activity, no?

He is not an officer of the law, so how exactly is such behaviour legal? Private detectives are not legal, why are his 100- and 150-day "stakeouts" okay?


I guess one thing to do would be to determine if that is, in fact, a violation of the law. I'm not so sure, though, given the apparent legality of gathering video as documentation of wrongdoing (traffic violations, littering) for financial reward.

At any rate, it's not so much him being arrested that I'd like to see. Rather, I want to see his organization discredited as a hate group. That would go further in tainting his organization when the press wants to quote him than just having him get in trouble for what could be brushed off as overzealousness.

If the stalking and the stakeouts are illegal and he has admitted to it, it could be a good component of a "hate group" petition. So, is it definitely illegal what he says he has been doing?

WORD VERIFICATION: avidist (heh heh)

Darth Babaganoosh said...

Bob, PIs were illegal a decade ago when I wanted/needed one. The police even told me if I do the surveillance myself, to be careful and not get caught.

I can't speak for current laws since I have not found it necessary to keep up with that particular area.

Anonymous said...

I know that getting expats to do anything that doesn't involve sitting around an Itaewon bar and complaining about the job is nigh impossible. But until you long-timers get off your asses and take the war to this guy and his merry collection of bigots, he's going to get more and more "legit" as time goes on.

Darth Babaganoosh said...

You first, WG. What are YOU going to do to "take the war to him" other than sit on YOUR ass and complain about the long-timers?

Kushibo, I think we're on the same page with the group themselves. They have to be outed as a hate group, but I'm not even sure where to begin. It's not like Korea has a history with such groups, so they don't even have things like hate crimes in their lawbooks.

The stakeout and stalkings have to be where we start... it might be illuminating how he chooses his targets. Sure, the drug-users can be seen in clubs and then followed home, but what about the teachers "with STDs" and those "with fake degrees"... where does he find these guys and how does he know they have STDs and fake degrees? Or is it a matter of picking some random guy on the street, following him home and staking him out long enough to find dirt on the guy? If the latter, then how many teachers does he target that he finds nothing on?

Or, is he just making shit up? He never really does give many details. He just claims to have found a teacher with an STD/a fake degree and had him arrested/deported. No corroborating evidence. If such is the case, it might be argued he is stirring up negative reactions from the public (by inflating the number of actual "bad" teachers) to marginalize foreigners further with negative public opinion.

I don't know, in any case, it all has to come around to whitey sticking his wick in Korean "virgin" punnany, and how he doesn't like it.

kushibo said...

Well, William George, that's sort of my point about getting off our asses. Except I wouldn't have thrown in the gratuitous swipe at beer-swilling expats.

The proprietor of this blog seems not the Itaewon beer-drinking type. I certainly am not. Brian, neither, for that matter. ROK Hound is someone I'm a bit less familiar with, so I can't say, but I'm guessing no. Roboseyo, Ben Wagner, Metropolitician, nope, none among them either.

At any rate, aren't you also a long-timer, man behind Psychedelic Kimchi?

kushibo said...

Yes, ROK Hound, where to begin is a big question. Well, with all the discussion of the AES guy on the K-blogs, I think it already has begun. In fact, I think that step has nearly been saturated.

I really do think that the KNHRC commission is a good place to go for the next step. They are set up to deal with such things, sort of, they are apparently sympathetic to such issues, especially when they come from foreign nationals and naturalized citizens, and they get the press's attention.

Whether the stalking is illegal must be determined, particularly if he is stalking people initially based on no evidence except that they are White or other foreign residents. That would seem to be a more likely violation of law (but I don't know for sure), possibly constituting a hate crime.

After I get done with a certain big project due this weekend, I may contact someone at the KNHRC just to see if they can point in the right direction or offer advice. If someone knows of any particular person good to talk with over there, I'd appreciate the suggestion.

Frankly, I don't like the idea of staking this guy out. Playing dirty with people who play dirty is not a good way to go, especially if you're trying to make a case in the public eye. If he is acting egregiously in his invasions of others' privacy, why would it be okay to invade his? That's a double standard that I don't think should be applied.

I think it is a distinct possibly, as you suggest, that he may be making shit up. I mean, he says English teachers went to him for help, which is laughable (though not impossible), so what else is he exaggerating or distorting?

I think his picture of the business card instead of one of those "shaking hands and smiling at the camera" poses is a telling sign. He has talked with some of these people, but maybe they think he's a nuisance to. If someone called my office 200 times to tell me something, I might start finding it annoying rather than useful.

And like you say, if he's exaggerating or distorting, his goal is either self-aggrandizement so that his group seems more important, and/or he is trying to whip up anti-foreign sentiment. The latter, it would seem, makes for a nice hate crime.

kushibo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
kushibo said...

ROK Hound wrote:
I don't know, in any case, it all has to come around to whitey sticking his wick in Korean "virgin" punnany, and how he doesn't like it.

Dealing with this separately, and I apologize in advance for seeming to pick on you about this, ROK Hound, but I've never liked the idea of using "whitey" as a stand-in for the archetypal foreigner in Korea, or even as the archetypal Anglophone in Korea.

With as many kyopo as there are in South Korea, I'm not even sure if Whites make up the majority of English-speaking foreign nationals, but even if they do, White are not that particularly representative of the group, and they certainly don't receive worse treatment than Blacks as a whole or even Hispanics. Kyopo receive a special brand of crap that Whites would not have to go through. Other English-speaking Asians receive some of that as well.

Sorry, it's just a pet peeve of mine.

WORD VERIFICATION: red ammo

Helen said...

I read most of articles linked in Korean. I see it's a warning about spoiled desire of human beings. Who can we blame on at this point of time that a great number of people go to the devil?

Anonymous said...

Kushibo, you're in Hawaii. Start an anti Anti-English Spectrum website using his words and showing how it's a hate group. Show how that fellow stalks people. Publicise the AES site as a hate group. Flood the Korean news sites with links to your site.

If you were here in Seoul, he could shut you down for libel. He can't get you for libel under US laws. (Remember the Korean who wanted to sue Jay Leno?)

(This goes for anyone living in the US, really. I just remember that Kushibo lives there. Make up anti-AES sites and publicise the hell out of them. Just make sure that the information you use comes from his site, so he can't sue.)

Anonymous said...

Anon again.

Before you start piling on and saying, "You first", I live in Seoul and have to deal with local libel laws. That is why I suggest the Americans do this.

kushibo said...

Anonymous, you make a valid point about libel laws, and it's something I have considered while making my proposal. This is one of the things I plan to address when I contact the KNHRC. One would hope there would be some "whistleblower" protection, but the accuser should make sure that what they're saying is provable.

And that's one reason why I referred to making a concise and dispassionate list of grievances. On the blogs there are a lot of things said about this Mr Lee — about his sexuality or sanity or what have you — that would absolutely not belong in some list. The list of grievances has to be factual and provable.

At any rate, although I'm in Hawaii, I also am a property-owning resident of Seoul with a ROK visa and a ROK job, so I'm as vulnerable as anyone else blogging from Korea.

I might be in an easier position to influence the creation of such a site run wholly and independently by someone else.

For now I'd like to get working on that list of grievances that would constitute illegal behavior and/or hate crimes.

Anonymous said...

Well, looks like this have come full circle. My work here is done, and I can wrap it up and continue what Im doing back in Canada.
Thanks boys for all the help in getting everyone all worked up. All the comments, and thoughts on whether or not my site was a real site. Well it is, and its not set up by that jerk off that runs anti english spectrum. Cant wait to soak in all this material, then expose all the Koreans working illegally in Canada.

Anonymous said...

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Thank you Anti English Spectrum. Thank you. You've made it all possible. Those are my degrees. That is my friend that made the video, and that event in Hongdae, lets just say I threw in the wet tshirt contest. FULL CIRCLE. Now, just to give you a taste, just so you know that we are legit. We've been making videos for a while, and were actors in Korea, heres a clip that we made on the streets of Seoul in an earlier post "Cultural Interaction". Does that guy look familiar?

Anonymous said...

I'm so confused about some of these comments! I mean, this topic is something I'm really interested in personally (and academically): I've been in Korea for 10 or 11 years and I've been blogging for almost half of that time. But, it's weird, I always feel that everybody knows everybody and I'm just sitting in a little hut somewhere trying to decode all the stuff that goes on the comments sections. Lol. ^^

So enlighten me, please. Who is
Colonel Fernandez and why can't he spell? Is it a joke? And, next, what's wrong with being the "man behind Psychedelic Kimchi"? Am I the only real person who likes that blog? Did I miss something?

At any rate, I agree with Kushibo who said they (the AES) "... may have some influence, though my contention is that they may not be as influential as the K-blogs generally have made them out to be". I think they might have a lot of support within the general population but at the end of the day NOT enough to affect poicy in a big way. Korea has no plans to make English less important, and for all the talk about "English in English" and getting Korean teachers to do what foreigners do now, the truth is that Korean teachers aren't ready - or willing or paid enough - to take over those jobs.

That's just my 2 cents. Cheers~

kushibo said...

Melissa wrote:
But, it's weird, I always feel that everybody knows everybody and I'm just sitting in a little hut somewhere trying to decode all the stuff that goes on the comments sections. Lol. ^^

Colonel Fernandez is a man who supposedly has been providing fake degrees for people to use to get work, about whom there was considerable outrage. You can read more about that here. There has been some speculation that his blog is fake and that he is not in South Korea at all (see comments section of above link). I am not yet entirely convinced of that claim but Colonel Fernandez's agreement to meet me this summer when I was in Seoul so that matter could be put to rest went nowhere.

And, next, what's wrong with being the "man behind Psychedelic Kimchi"? Am I the only real person who likes that blog? Did I miss something?

Oh, I didn't mean to imply there was anything wrong with William George. By specifically mentioning his blog, I was suggesting that the owner of such a well-known blog might also be a long-timer who. And, to use his own words, perhaps he could join us in trying to do something "that doesn't involve sitting around an Itaewon bar and complaining about the job."

WORD VERIFICATION: biblen

Because Bibles A through M sucked!

kushibo said...

Melissa wrote:
I think they might have a lot of support within the general population but at the end of the day NOT enough to affect poicy in a big way.

I think at the end of the day they might be a bit like the Minutemen in California (and in other border states with Mexico).

They may share, for example, a commonly held view with the general public, but if a lot of public knew what they were doing specifically, their support would erode because it would be going too far.

I think a lot of South Koreans are concerned about people coming in with fake degrees, pedophiles in the school system, people taking drugs, people earning money not because of teaching skills or training but just because they can speak English, etc. Heck, more than a few English teachers themselves share some or all of these concerns.

But a lot of South Korean nationals would be taken aback by the tactics used by Mr Lee of AES. Spying, stalking, tracking, etc., are not things most South Koreans are fond of, especially since they are so reminiscent about recent past regimes.

I think where the K-blogs (collectively) have gone wrong with this issue is that they focus so much on Korean media articles about English teachers while providing very little focus about the articles about native Korean teachers. The Korean press has been hammering Korean teachers as an inept, corrupt, abusive, lecherous lot for at least the past decade. Basically for their failure to live up to their rarefied status as teachers. And NSETs, essentially, have walked into that.

Drug use is something that most Koreans are extremely uneasy about. Stories about meth use (among Koreans) are common, and the stories about celebrities and NSETs smoking pot are part of that as well.

So Mr Lee shares their concerns and exploits them. Many people will see through his schemes and start to recognize that his campaign is xenophobic and creepy, and it goes beyond their own desire just to have good teachers with clean values, that he is driven by a hatred of foreign people and they are not ("the Koreans hate us" meme is a toxic exercise in self-destruction that does not reflect most Koreans' thinking at all).

Okay, I'm done.

Anonymous said...

Abandon discriminatory HIV policy

"This group presented itself as a collection of 'concerned citizens' working tirelessly for the good of society. In reality, the group has little concern for or connection with Korean society. Instead, it represents a grotesque combination of xenophobia, racism and misogyny that is as likely to attack Korean women as it is foreign men who teach English."

Anonymous said...

the more i read about english teachers in korea the more i'm thinking: what on earth (transl.: what the fuck)am i doing here??? in other countries people are actually serious about ENGLISH?? god help me please for i knew not what i did when i came here

King Baeksu said...

I think if Lee Eun-ung only knew that Kushibo is the real-life love-child of Max Fischer and Tracy Flick, he would stop all his silliness before it's too late.

Anonymous said...

You need some good photographs of this pathetic Pink Panther so anyone can recognize the sad man watching from his hidy hole. Stick his mug on mugs, T-shirts, dartboards, clownsuits. And ask him about the Korean Taekwondo teacher put away recently for raping a couple of his 10 year old students. Foreign teachers are just not in the same league as these Korean guys. What about the drunken Korean who shot dead a young student recently? He had bumped the boy with his car and was afraid of losing his licence.

Anonymous said...

A fortiori: You need to get a list of the publicly reported crimes that Korean teachers and Korean men do every day and, as Luther did, go and nail it to some great public door and say "Here we stand. Foreign teachers do not rape and murder little girls. These worst crimes are all your own bloody work!"

Erik said...

I think the groups xenophobia is best demonstrated by the accomplishment from February 2007: "After our cafe’s broadcast went out on the atrocious behaviors of foreigners at Hongdae clubs, Commander Bell’s U.S. forces in Korea were completely prohibited from entering Hongdae clubs."

These guys don't care if their targets are English teachers, factory workers, business executives or soldiers. All they want is to make sure that non-Korean men don't touch Korean women.

kushibo said...

Erik, I think you're right that that demonstrates their xenophobic intent.

At the same time, though, I think it is also evidence of puffing up their résumé. Commander Bell's actions were how many years after AES got started? Hardly clear cause-and-effect, especially since USFK has other reasons for putting areas off limits, including wide availability of illegal drugs, which is a problem among Koreans in Hongdae as well.

andrew said...

i would say, if ever there was a good time to make a case against a group like that, it would be now, with the first effects of the new anti-racism legislation being seen. it seems like a perfect opportunity to finally raise this as an issue. it seems to me that the biggest problem isn't that discrimination / xenophobia / racism are particularly serious problems here, or at least not a lot worse than other places, but instead that most koreans don't recognize them as problems at all, in others and even in themselves.

matt said...

While I have no doubt Lee is embiggening his achievements, I'm curious.
Did anyone not actually see this? Don't people think that being invited to the policy meeting that led to the new E-2 visa regulations is quite an accomplishment? Along with an award from the police? On top of being interviewed in, oh, Sports Chosun, Chosun Ilbo, Chosun.com, Weekly Chosun, Donga Ilbo, Weekly Kyunghyang, Seoul Shinmun, Joongang Ilbo, Daejeon Ilbo and BreakNews (and the KT and KH and LA Times), as well as being publicly credited for the Pandora's Box TV show and publicly taking credit for segments of 그것이 알고싶다 (which, in its irresponsible manner, brought the concept of 'foreign English teacher = child molester' into people's homes a year before Karr came to light). As for a lot of media contacts Lee claims, a number of them, while not featuring interviews with him, certainly have the feel of the articles he contributed to (such as intimate details of peoples sex lives).

There are actually less posts at AES about distributing fliers on the streets (that's so 2005) than
there are with references to the National Assembly and Ministry of Justice. They began submitting petitions to the Ministry of Justice asking for criminal record checks, health checks, and HIV checks in August and September 2006, and were invited to the E-2 visa policy meeting in 2007. Oh, and all of the public discourse (ie - in the media - about English teachers and AIDS is a result of AES's work - as are the HIV checks. Expect a post on that soon, though it's laid out quite clearly here.

As for the 2007 YTN Hongdae broadcasts, from what I can tell from what I've seen on their site, AES was planning to do filming in Hongdae in late 2006, but it was around that time that a USFK member raped a grandmother near Hongdae, so - if I had to guess - YTN changed it into more of a diatribe against GIs than English teachers. As for claiming victory, if Lee is padding his resume, he's just following the example of YTN - see the English translation in the post.

One of the things I find interesting to remember is that when the English Spectrum scandal broke in 2005, Oranckay - who had lived in Korea for almost 20 years at that point - said, "Whoop dee damn doo, this too will pass." But it didn't. Four and a half years later, I can look back over the last four months and find 10 articles or news clips featuring Lee. Before that the media reported on the occasional drug bust, and while you could argue it might be natural to look more closely at qualifications and drug use after the ES incident (though even the actions of the media and immigration (requiring transcripts) were responses to the clamour on the internet caused by the people who formed AES), the propensity for the media over the past few years to delve into the private lives of foreign teachers has been a result of AES feeding a lot of this information to the media. Much of this information has come from ex-girlfriends, which is ironic, considering AES considers such 'white groupies' to be, at best, misguided, and at worst, treasonous whores. In final summation, the shift in public discourse regarding foreign English teachers from 'people we ignore who get arrested for drugs sometimes' to 'unqualified, morally corrupt, permanently stoned, disease-carrying threats to Korean feminine virtue and childhood innocence' is in good part due to the propaganda efforts of Anti-English Spectrum, as well, of course, to the acquiescence of a media and government which is too often willing to believe the worst about foreigners - something the people behind the anti-US and anti-LMB protests in 2002 and 2008 understood and exploited very well.

Unknown said...

Well.... you can always use the Korean method to solving this problem.

Pay off a gang to "fix" this guy's problem and "convince" him to take down his site ^^

Seriously... its how the Chaebul take care of these kinds of problems.

Bobby McGill said...

These guys are arrogant racists and ill-informed --plain and simple. To suggest that there is a problem with foreigners degrading women in a country where prostitution outranks agriculture in GNP is ludicrous.

Anonymous said...

I got interested in AES after reading some of articles about AES with lots of denoucments of foreign teachers against it, in fact, it was not comfortable wth those articles, maybe many would feel same as me

This week, there was another big news about illegal drug crimes committed by foreign teachers in Korea, not sure you all heard this: " a number of drug crimes by foreign teachers who have given English lessons in Korea including full-time college lecturers, have been uncovered by the prosecution. The news has triggered criticism over loopholes in the verification and management system of native-speaking instructors."

I'd like to rather recommend foreign teacher's groups some voluntary campaigns with AES to oust illegal problem foreign teachers than you just gush your rage against AES' activites. That would work more to better the image of foreign teachers here in Korea.
hatred would buy only another bigger hatred in this land.

If there is no more illegal misbehaviors by foreign teachers in Korea, AES will also disappear. I visited AES naver cafe and found AES announcement that it mainly works to help prevent illegal crimes by foreign teachers and is also against any form of racist acts. The cafe staff said cearly in the post-up notices it does not allow any racism contents in its cafe website and will delte any provoking racism contents once detected. Seems quite misunderstanding with what you know about AES.

Helen said...

I was also a member of the AES. I was interested in the antagonistic relationship between the foreign teachers and the AES.
As a mom of a boy I agree with that any criminals or disqualified teachers musn't teach kids.
But I got an impression that some members are too biased.
Some main members were offensive to the objection.
Some comments were below par.
The leader suggested debating culture on that site but it couldn't be possible.
some opponents'comments were deleted.
Some opponents were forced to disconnect themselves.
The menu of looking for good foreign teachers seems in name only with some salty comments
and it seems disharmonious there.
They don't wanna debate or share the ideas.
They are locked in their thoughts.
There is lack of understanding between the two.