AES: Grandfather Dangun is wailing in his grave!

The 2005 English Spectrum Incident

Part 1: English Spectrum and 'Ask The Playboy'
Part 2: The Kimchiland where it’s easy to sleep with women and make money
Part 3: English Spectrum shuts down as Anti-English Spectrum is created
Part 4: How to hunt foreign women
Part 5: Did the foreigners who denigrated Korean women throw a secret party?
Part 6: The 'Ask The Playboy' sexy costume party
Part 7: Stir over ‘lewd party’ involving foreigners and Korean women
Part 8: The 2003 post that tarred foreign English teachers as child molesters
Part 9: Netizens shocked by foreign instructor site introducing how to harass Korean children        
Part 10: 'Recruit a Yankee strike force!'  
Part 11: The Daum signature campaign: 'Let's kick out low quality foreign instructors!'
Part 12: Movement to expel foreign teachers who denigrated Korean women
Part 13: "Middle school girls will do anything"
Part 14: Netizens propose 'Yankee counter strike force'
Part 15: Segye Ilbo interview with the women from the party, part 1
Part 16: Segye Ilbo interview with the women from the party, part 2
Part 17: Web messages draw Koreans’ wrath
Part 18: Thai female laborers and white English instructors
Part 19: KBS Morning Newstime: 'I can also suffer from the two faces of the internet'
Part 20: AES: Grandfather Dangun is wailing in his grave! 
Part 21: 'Regret' over the scandal caused by confessions of foreign instructors
Part 22: "Korean men have no excuse"
Part 23: "Unfit foreign instructors should be a 'social issue'"
Part 24: Growing dispute over foreign English instructor qualifications
Part 25: 'Clamor'at foreigner English education site
Part 26: Foreign instructor: "I want to apologize"
Part 27: No putting brakes on 'Internet human rights violations'
Part 28: "They branded us as whores, yanggongju and pimps," part 1
Part 29: "They branded us as whores, yanggongju and pimps," part 2
Part 30: Don't Imagine
Part 31: AES founder's statement
Part 32: 'Foreign instructor' takes third place 
Part 33: Art From Outsider's Point of View
Part 34: U.S. Embassy warns Americans of threats near colleges
Part 35: Internet real name system debated
Part 36: Dirty Korean women who have brought shame to the country?
Part 37: Invasion of Privacy Degrades Korean Women Twice Over
Part 38: 60 unqualified native speaking instructors hired for English instruction
Part 39: The rising tide of unqualified foreign instructors
Part 40: Warrant for Canadian English instructor who molested hagwon owner 
Part 41: MBC Sisa Magazine 2580: "Korea is a paradise" 
Part 42: Foreign instructor: "In two years I slept with 20 Korean women."
Part 43: Viewers shocked by shameless acts of unqualified foreign instructors.
Part 44: Warrant for the arrest of a man in his 30s for breaking into home of foreign instructors
Part 45: Unqualified English instructors seen as major problem here


As a result of the KBS morning news broadcast on January 17, 2005, which portrayed the women in the party photos as victims of netizens, the members of AES were outraged, as can be seen by the posts here. The second result at that link is rather revealing of the beliefs and motivations of some of Anti-English Spectrum's members.

Criticizing the brainless acts of KBS and its distorted reports

Date: 2005.01.17 11:07
Posted by: 목자(unionasone)
http://cafe.naver.com/englishspectrum/1348

Can you even recognize netizens [by how they were portrayed by KBS]?

Why do foreign men go insane but Korean men have to bow their heads like little bastards? They don't say anything about foreign instructors who confess to sex crimes and their treacherous intentions regarding Korean women and only side with the business owner and women?
Even if that's so, why don't we create at atmosphere where we can point out the low aspects of foreign instructors, who are the essence of the problem?

[We have to] arouse people's attention [or 'propagandize'].......

Are only the human rights of women and foreigners important?
Are the human rights of Korea and Korean men worth only a dog's bowl?
Hey!! Women don't defend the country.
Men defend the dignity of the country.
If the men are defeated and die, the women will be nothing but sex toys.
With all things that insult men and violate the dignity of the country, the harm eventually falls upon the women and our descendants!!!!!!

Don't think of a bunch of foreign bastards. Thinking of the minjok's soul, about American troops and foreign instructors in Hongdae and Itaewon where there is so much western decadent party culture, we should not remain still.

I want to curse and swear but.... I'm... holding it... back......

Have netizens been made into outlaws while puzzling over raising awareness and criticizing foreign instructor's sex crimes and empty-headed bitches' free style?

The foreign bastards put up the photos first. Why is there no talk of that?

There is no talk of decadent party culture. [Nothing] about citizens being absorbed in 'English first-ism' regarding the qualifications of foreign instructors.

Why isn't there a word about businessmen who sell away the minjok's soul and self respect bit by bit for commercial purposes?

Why is there no criticism of this culture and atmosphere?

Do you think this is criticism of foreigners and Korean women dating naturally?

Why are we posting foreign men's sex crime posts and disparaging them? Hey, listen to what's being said.

Aren't you a Korean broadcaster, a public broadcaster too?

Didn't you support the crackdown on prostitution? Realistically, if you are a public broadcaster standing for the stability of the family, society, and the country, it's proper that you should criticize free sex.

This is not good, don't spend money extravagantly, and we should start a movement to expel those unconstrained people so they can't do business in Korea and shine a spotlight on twisted western and Japanese porn which rots the minds of the youth and Korean adult sites which send daily emails.

Work for the good of the country. Don't you want that you should be a state run broadcaster which broadcasts for the happiness, peace and stability of one family?

Even if they had committed no crime, why broadcast such a one-sided report?

The essence of the problem is right here. Don't make a crazy show with the citizens' money....
Grandfather Dangun is wailing in his grave!!!!!

I could line up a number of articles on Korean nationalism and patriarchy that I've read and post quotations from them, but there's really no need since the writer of this post makes it very clear from what point of view he's coming from.

While he rightfully asks if KBS believes the anti cafe's criticism is limited only to "foreigners and Korean women dating naturally," and if they don't have other legitimate concerns, it might be easier to believe that 'dating naturally' wasn't a concern if he didn't refer to the women as "empty-headed bitches."

This is a rather remarkable passage, however, especially with the final sentence added to it:

Are only the human rights of women and foreigners important?*
Are the human rights of Korea and Korean men worth only a dog's bowl?
Hey!! Women don't defend the country.
Men defend the dignity of the country.
If the men are defeated and die, the women will be nothing but sex toys.
With all things that insult men and violate the dignity of the country, the harm eventually falls upon the women and our descendants!!!!!!
[....]
Grandfather Dangun is wailing in his grave!!!!!

This passage lays out his view of Korea as a nation of male subjects and female wombs linked by blood as one family in a chain reaching from the original ancestor, Dangun, to their descendants. "Men defend the dignity of the country" and foreign males, with their "treacherous intentions regarding Korean women," insult the male defenders of the country and violate their (and therefore the nation's) sanctity, despoiling their women and descendants by 'splashing ink into the Han River' and threatening the "stability of the family, society, and the country" [which are all the same thing]. 'Free sex' by 'empty-headed bitches' with their 'free style' threatens to hurt the dignity of the men and eventually reduce all women to mere 'sex toys,' so, as always, they need to be shamed into their proper place. And what is the source of this 'free style'?

Thinking of the minjok's soul, about American troops and foreign instructors in Hongdae and Itaewon where there is so much western decadent party culture, we should not remain still.

While minjung narratives often portray the underclass as being victimized by government and corporate power, the only credible threats to the minjok as a whole (and its soul) must come from outsiders with "treacherous intentions."

He then asks, "[W]hy don't we create at atmosphere where we can point out the low aspects of foreign instructors, who are the essence of the problem? [We have to] arouse people's attention." And arouse the people's attention Anti English Spectrum would, starting with news programs by MBC and SBS which would focus on the"low aspects of foreign instructors."



* The question "Are only the human rights of women and foreigners important?" would be raised again by AES in an article linking foreign teachers to AIDS.

Is it just me, or do other people think that this 'making foreigners dance to Gangnam Style' thing has perhaps been taken a little too far?

Recreation of the 1951 Imjin River hockey game this Sunday at Seoul Plaza

As the Joongang Daily recently noted, two weeks ago, the Canadian Embassy in Seoul

kicked off a series of celebrations throughout the year to commemorate the 50 years of Seoul-Ottawa diplomatic relations, which was Jan. 14.

As part of the celebration, this year has been designated as the “Year of Canada” in Korea by Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik and also the “Year of Korea” in Canada by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. There are also a string of cultural, political, academic and trade programs and events being held to highlight the anniversary.

One of those events is a recreation of the 1951 Imjin River hockey game on Feb. 3  at 9:30 am at the Seoul Plaza skating rink, which will see two time gold medalist Catriona Lemay Doan act as honourary referee for the game. As per the Embassy:

Canadians’ enthusiasm for hockey was in evidence during the Korean War, in which 27,000 Canadian troops participated in defence of freedom. Many of these troops were surprised to find in Korea a climate not much different from that which they had left in Canada, with cold winters meaning frozen rivers where they could play their favourite sport.

In honour of the 60th anniversary of the armistice, and the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our two countries, the Canadian Embassy - in collaboration with the City of Seoul, the Pyeongchang Olympics Organization, the Korea Ice Hockey Association, and our sponsors - are proud to commemorate that involvement. On 3 February, 2013 at 0930, the Embassy, with the help of a locally-based hockey group – the Geckos – will be organizing a demonstration game on the ice rink at Seoul City Square, as part of the final day of the skating season in Seoul City. The teams will be wearing the colours of the Canadian teams which squared off on the ice of the Imjin River, almost 61 years to the day. We are also pleased to arrange with the City the opportunity for citizens to work with some of Korea’s best hockey instructors and share the enjoyment in this winter sport which unites Korea and Canada.

There will also be an exhibition of photographs made available by Library and Archives Canada. These photographs demonstrate the enthusiasm for the game that the troops carried with them to Korea. Playing hockey in the midst of the terrible events must have been one way to bring a bit of home to the troops, amid the trying conditions of the war.

A comment at the Hole also links to this page I'd never seen showing the photos and remembrances of a Canadian soldier who was in Korea during the war which has a photo of soldiers watching a hockey game "organized for the amusement of the visiting dignitaries." 

Here are some of the photos provided by the Canadian Embassy:

"Imjin Gardens" is the scene of a hockey game between teams of the Royal 

Canadian Horse Artillery officers and "Van Doos" officers, Korea, 1 Mar. 1952

 

That Marmot's Hole post notes that these and other such photos will be on display at Schofield Hall on the first floor of the Canadian Embassy from January 28th to February 1st, and will then up at Seoul Plaza on February 3, the day of the game.

KBS: 'I can also suffer from the two faces of the internet'

The 2005 English Spectrum Incident

Part 1: English Spectrum and 'Ask The Playboy'
Part 2: The Kimchiland where it’s easy to sleep with women and make money
Part 3: English Spectrum shuts down as Anti-English Spectrum is created
Part 4: How to hunt foreign women
Part 5: Did the foreigners who denigrated Korean women throw a secret party?
Part 6: The 'Ask The Playboy' sexy costume party
Part 7: Stir over ‘lewd party’ involving foreigners and Korean women
Part 8: The 2003 post that tarred foreign English teachers as child molesters
Part 9: Netizens shocked by foreign instructor site introducing how to harass Korean children        
Part 10: 'Recruit a Yankee strike force!'  
Part 11: The Daum signature campaign: 'Let's kick out low quality foreign instructors!'
Part 12: Movement to expel foreign teachers who denigrated Korean women
Part 13: "Middle school girls will do anything"
Part 14: Netizens propose 'Yankee counter strike force'
Part 15: Segye Ilbo interview with the women from the party, part 1
Part 16: Segye Ilbo interview with the women from the party, part 2
Part 17: Web messages draw Koreans’ wrath
Part 18: Thai female laborers and white English instructors
Part 19: KBS Morning Newstime: 'I can also suffer from the two faces of the internet'
Part 20: AES: Grandfather Dangun is wailing in his grave! 
Part 21: 'Regret' over the scandal caused by confessions of foreign instructors
Part 22: "Korean men have no excuse"
Part 23: "Unfit foreign instructors should be a 'social issue'"
Part 24: Growing dispute over foreign English instructor qualifications
Part 25: 'Clamor'at foreigner English education site
Part 26: Foreign instructor: "I want to apologize"
Part 27: No putting brakes on 'Internet human rights violations'
Part 28: "They branded us as whores, yanggongju and pimps," part 1
Part 29: "They branded us as whores, yanggongju and pimps," part 2
Part 30: Don't Imagine
Part 31: AES founder's statement
Part 32: 'Foreign instructor' takes third place 
Part 33: Art From Outsider's Point of View
Part 34: U.S. Embassy warns Americans of threats near colleges
Part 35: Internet real name system debated
Part 36: Dirty Korean women who have brought shame to the country?
Part 37: Invasion of Privacy Degrades Korean Women Twice Over
Part 38: 60 unqualified native speaking instructors hired for English instruction
Part 39: The rising tide of unqualified foreign instructors
Part 40: Warrant for Canadian English instructor who molested hagwon owner 
Part 41: MBC Sisa Magazine 2580: "Korea is a paradise" 
Part 42: Foreign instructor: "In two years I slept with 20 Korean women."
Part 43: Viewers shocked by shameless acts of unqualified foreign instructors.
Part 44: Warrant for the arrest of a man in his 30s for breaking into home of foreign instructors
Part 45: Unqualified English instructors seen as major problem here


Part 19: KBS Morning Newstime: 'I can also suffer from the two faces of the internet'

On Monday January 17, 2005, KBS Morning Newstime (at 8am) broadcast a four minute report on the English Spectrum incident - the first time it was mentioned on television. It can be watched without having to log in to KBS's site here. Find the date below the viewer and change it to January 17, 2005, and then scroll down to the report marked below:

The segment (which falls online under the heading 'Women's morning') is initially headlined "On the internet, I can also be a victim."

The anchors state that there is furor over photos and writing posted at a foreign teacher site because its so decadent and sensational. It mentions that the posts sexually denigrated Korean women, that the controversy over it continues to spread, and that the report will look into the truth of it.

We're then told that a foreign English instructor site recently posted photos of Korean women at a lewd party thrown at a club in Hongdae last November, and that because of the photos both the foreign instructors and women have been criticized. The photos begin with a zoom in on the bare skin in this photo, but most of the others are blurred and appear so fast it's difficult to know what's going on in them.

We're then given the full title of the segment: "Two faces of the internet, I can also suffer."

To make clear the abuse the Korean women are suffering, the Korean sentences which the title appears over read: "Those bitches don't like to be called 'yanggongju.' From now on, let's call them 'yangbyeongi' ['westerners' toilets'].

We're then shown examples of writing sexually denigrating Korean women at the 'problem site,' such as "Korean women who enjoy free sex* treat you like a king," and "In Korea, women are easy to sleep with."

At another site a foreign teacher described how to molest child students:

Step 1: Choosing the student.
Step 2: How to approach them.
Step 3: Meeting them in private.

It then notes that an anti site centered on some netizens had started a signature campaign to kick out low quality foreign instructors and that a post calling on netizens to take part in a strike force had appeared. A snippet of online text also appears onscreen which reads "[we] should kill," but you can't see who." It also says that the netizens have indiscriminately criticized foreign instructors and the Korean women in the photos.

Two women on the street then offer their thoughts on the photos spread on the internet and sympathize with the women.

On the night of January 14, reporters then went into Mary Jane club, where the 'lewd party' was held.  We're shown a shot of the exterior and scenes of dancing and drinking inside.

'M' Club, Seogyo-dong, Seoul, on the evening of the 14th.

There they interview the owner and a member of the staff who appeared in the photos, who can be seen (blurred) wiping away tears below:

Much of what they say is similar to an interview they gave to the Segye Ilbo a day later. The owner describes how the people at the party thought that it wasn't fun despite the 'sexy costume' concept, so one of his employees 'directed' the action. That employee (also one of the woman who appeared in the photos) is interviewed and describes how the photos were only taken during a 1 or 2 minute 'happening' when people posed for the cameras, after which clothes went back on and things returned to normal. The owner then explains that it was mostly Koreans, including Korean men, at the party, and that among foreigners there were just as many women as men.


It's also noted that some of the photos distributed on the internet weren’t taken at the party, namely the one below.

The woman in the photo is interviewed by phone and says it was taken when she was dating a foreign friend, at his house, a year or so before, and had nothing to do with the party, which she knew nothing about.
 
It then mentions the problems with such distortions by the teachers who posted such photos, and notes that both the women in the photos and the anti site are both going to the police to take legal action, and that the truth of the photos has not been confirmed. While this is being said, these photos appear:

The show doesn't make clear the source of these photos, but they haven't appeared elsewhere, and unlike the party photos at English Spectrum, none of the people in these photos appear to be aware that they're being photographed, and they're all taken either from above or behind, and all seemingly on the street. I find it hard not to think that these were taken by members of Anti English Spectrum. Perhaps they got an early start at stalking foreign men and the women they date.

The segment then ends with a lawyer discussing the right to your own image and the legal ramifications of posting photos online without someone's permission, and essentially warns netizens about this.

As you might be able to tell, while mention was certainly made of the 'lewd' party and the postings of bad foreign teachers, the subjects of the story were in fact the women who were victimized by the internet. It's generally a reasonably balanced look at what was happening, and the netizens come off not looking good at all. Needless to say, any news broadcast which made the members of Anti English Spectrum look bad and women who they considered to be traitorous whores look like innocent victims was something that they could only regard with outrage. A lot of outrage. Luckily, some of what they wrote was rather revealing, as we'll see in the next post.

On the bright side, at least from Anti English Spectrum's point of view, in the future they would have many, many chances to collaborate on news stories which painted foreign teachers in the worst ways possible.


[*The original English sentence refers to Korean women enjoying 'stress-free sex' with foreign men, but that was left out of the initial translations in the media. Perhaps the idea of free sex was disturbing because it suggested they weren't just having sex with prostitutes, but 'good' girls. As this Kyunghyang Sinmun article about Itaewon put it in 1984,

"It's not just foreigners' prostitutes, now it's female university students or teenagers from good families who chase after foreigners and spend money on them, and when I see it I think it's pathetic," said Hong Gwan-pyo, who has sold souvenirs in the area for 8 years, with a sour look on his face.

And the Le Monde article a month later which set off the French Teacher Scandal of 1984 stated that "Pierre has married a woman from a very good Korean family he encountered in a chic club in the city," something which seemed to raise the ire of commentators.]

The Daum signature campaign: 'Let's kick out low quality foreign instructors!'

The 2005 English Spectrum Incident

Part 1: English Spectrum and 'Ask The Playboy'
Part 2: The Kimchiland where it’s easy to sleep with women and make money
Part 3: English Spectrum shuts down as Anti-English Spectrum is created
Part 4: How to hunt foreign women
Part 5: Did the foreigners who denigrated Korean women throw a secret party?
Part 6: The 'Ask The Playboy' sexy costume party
Part 7: Stir over ‘lewd party’ involving foreigners and Korean women
Part 8: The 2003 post that tarred foreign English teachers as child molesters
Part 9: Netizens shocked by foreign instructor site introducing how to harass Korean children        
Part 10: 'Recruit a Yankee strike force!'  
Part 11: The Daum signature campaign: 'Let's kick out low quality foreign instructors!'
Part 12: Movement to expel foreign teachers who denigrated Korean women
Part 13: "Middle school girls will do anything"
Part 14: Netizens propose 'Yankee counter strike force'
Part 15: Segye Ilbo interview with the women from the party, part 1
Part 16: Segye Ilbo interview with the women from the party, part 2
Part 17: Web messages draw Koreans’ wrath
Part 18: Thai female laborers and white English instructors
Part 19: KBS Morning Newstime: 'I can also suffer from the two faces of the internet'
Part 20: AES: Grandfather Dangun is wailing in his grave! 
Part 21: 'Regret' over the scandal caused by confessions of foreign instructors
Part 22: "Korean men have no excuse"
Part 23: "Unfit foreign instructors should be a 'social issue'"
Part 24: Growing dispute over foreign English instructor qualifications
Part 25: 'Clamor'at foreigner English education site
Part 26: Foreign instructor: "I want to apologize"
Part 27: No putting brakes on 'Internet human rights violations'
Part 28: "They branded us as whores, yanggongju and pimps," part 1
Part 29: "They branded us as whores, yanggongju and pimps," part 2
Part 30: Don't Imagine
Part 31: AES founder's statement
Part 32: 'Foreign instructor' takes third place 
Part 33: Art From Outsider's Point of View
Part 34: U.S. Embassy warns Americans of threats near colleges
Part 35: Internet real name system debated
Part 36: Dirty Korean women who have brought shame to the country?
Part 37: Invasion of Privacy Degrades Korean Women Twice Over
Part 38: 60 unqualified native speaking instructors hired for English instruction
Part 39: The rising tide of unqualified foreign instructors
Part 40: Warrant for Canadian English instructor who molested hagwon owner 
Part 41: MBC Sisa Magazine 2580: "Korea is a paradise" 
Part 42: Foreign instructor: "In two years I slept with 20 Korean women."
Part 43: Viewers shocked by shameless acts of unqualified foreign instructors.
Part 44: Warrant for the arrest of a man in his 30s for breaking into home of foreign instructors
Part 45: Unqualified English instructors seen as major problem here

Part 11: The Daum signature campaign: 'Let's kick out low quality foreign instructors!'

On the afternoon of January 14, 2005, a signature campaign titled 'Let's kick out low quality foreign instructors!' was posted at Daum Agora. As you can see below, it eventually saw 10,475 signatures posted out of a target of 10,000 between January 14 and February 14.

To the Ministry of Education and English hagwons:
Let's expel low quality foreign instructors!

10,475 signatures out of target of 10,000 (Jan 14 to Feb 14)

Korean women are easy to sleep with and in Korea if you teach English, you can simply and easily earn money? The inculcation of this prejudice is due to the reckless behavior/indiscretions of a small number of students, but fundamentally, the reason they come to Korea to teach English is because we embrace unqualified foreigners who simply speak English.

Recently there was also an incident in which a former hotel doorman who had faked a diploma was hired as a professor and taught classes at Konkuk University, and when it was finally discovered it angered the students. As well, a shameless 'instructor' coolly posted on the internet how to sexually harass Korean children between the ages of 8 and 12.

These people who teach by day and behave indecently with Korean women by night like this, they're free to play, but let's not give them jobs as English instructors anymore!!

Also, there's an article about recruitment of a Yankee strike force. We shouldn't use violence, but let's gather and have a protest!

This post is then followed by the Kukmin Ilbo article titled 'Recruit a Yankee strike force!' posted earlier that day.

A few notes: It's good to know that the inculcation of the 'prejudice' that "Korean women are easy to sleep with" and "behave indecently with" is "due to the reckless behavior/indiscretions of a small number of students." As always, it's the traitorous woman's fault. Also worth noting is that any sex with foreign men is 'indecent,' or so you'd think from reading a lot of the commentary surrounding this incident.

As well, that "shameless 'instructor' [who] coolly posted on the internet how to sexually harass Korean children between the ages of 8 and 12" actually said not to target that particular demographic, but the inability to read should be no barrier to posting a signature campaign at Daum!

The post is followed by 280 comments. An early one reads "Really unbelievable. In their own country they lie around, in our country they take over. Don't forget this incident" There are many others like this; some are critical (commenting, say, on the differences in how Koreans perceive westerners and southeast Asians), others rehash perceptions like the one above, some relate negative stories about foreign instructors that the poster had met, and others are just, well, dumb ("I want to hit them").

At the same time, however, there are also comments critical of the uproar, saying things like "foreigners are not all the same type of people," and how in that commenter's eyes, the Koreans posting on the internet about this incident all seemed the same. 

A series of comments were left early on by 미완성 ['incompleteness']:

- Wow, now I've become aware of this, be careful. It seems like the opinions being posted here now are like a movement encouraging really primitive violence, 'if they're American let's indiscriminately beat them up.' Why during the Asian Cup did Chinese beat up all the Japanese fans and in Korea two years ago during the anti-American demonstrations were Americans beaten in the streets?

- It's really childish. Really childish. Let's talk about a different way than Korean nationalism. In foreign countries, is it good if the locals beat Korean men for dating foreign women? Why are you so childish?

- In the same movement, if, among white people in the neighbourhood [in a foreign country], it leads to a movement to take down Korean men who hang out with white women, what will happen? I'm honestly worried.

One of the interesting things about delving into all of the articles surrounding this incident is seeing just how monolithic the response wasn't. While it did lead to the formation of Anti English Spectrum, there was criticism of this response as well.

Mokdong venus(es)?

I'm not sure where this comes from (likely a film from the 1970s), but the credits say it's called 'Arirang Mokdong,' sung by the Dul Sisters and with lyrics by Park Chun-seok and music by Kim Sa-rang.



I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that this was not Kim Sa-rang's original composition.

'Recruit a Yankee strike force!'

The 2005 English Spectrum Incident

Part 1: English Spectrum and 'Ask The Playboy'
Part 2: The Kimchiland where it’s easy to sleep with women and make money
Part 3: English Spectrum shuts down as Anti-English Spectrum is created
Part 4: How to hunt foreign women
Part 5: Did the foreigners who denigrated Korean women throw a secret party?
Part 6: The 'Ask The Playboy' sexy costume party
Part 7: Stir over ‘lewd party’ involving foreigners and Korean women
Part 8: The 2003 post that tarred foreign English teachers as child molesters
Part 9: Netizens shocked by foreign instructor site introducing how to harass Korean children        
Part 10: 'Recruit a Yankee strike force!'  
Part 11: The Daum signature campaign: 'Let's kick out low quality foreign instructors!'
Part 12: Movement to expel foreign teachers who denigrated Korean women
Part 13: "Middle school girls will do anything"
Part 14: Netizens propose 'Yankee counter strike force'
Part 15: Segye Ilbo interview with the women from the party, part 1
Part 16: Segye Ilbo interview with the women from the party, part 2
Part 17: Web messages draw Koreans’ wrath
Part 18: Thai female laborers and white English instructors
Part 19: KBS Morning Newstime: 'I can also suffer from the two faces of the internet'
Part 20: AES: Grandfather Dangun is wailing in his grave! 
Part 21: 'Regret' over the scandal caused by confessions of foreign instructors
Part 22: "Korean men have no excuse"
Part 23: "Unfit foreign instructors should be a 'social issue'"
Part 24: Growing dispute over foreign English instructor qualifications
Part 25: 'Clamor'at foreigner English education site
Part 26: Foreign instructor: "I want to apologize"
Part 27: No putting brakes on 'Internet human rights violations'
Part 28: "They branded us as whores, yanggongju and pimps," part 1
Part 29: "They branded us as whores, yanggongju and pimps," part 2
Part 30: Don't Imagine
Part 31: AES founder's statement
Part 32: 'Foreign instructor' takes third place 
Part 33: Art From Outsider's Point of View
Part 34: U.S. Embassy warns Americans of threats near colleges
Part 35: Internet real name system debated
Part 36: Dirty Korean women who have brought shame to the country?
Part 37: Invasion of Privacy Degrades Korean Women Twice Over
Part 38: 60 unqualified native speaking instructors hired for English instruction
Part 39: The rising tide of unqualified foreign instructors
Part 40: Warrant for Canadian English instructor who molested hagwon owner 
Part 41: Foreign instructor: "In two years I slept with 20 Korean women."
Part 42: Viewers shocked by shameless acts of unqualified foreign instructors.
Part 43: Warrant for the arrest of a man in his 30s for breaking into home of foreign instructors
Part 44: Unqualified English instructors seen as major problem here

Part 10: 'Recruit a Yankee strike force!' 

I know it's been awhile since I've posted on this series; I got distracted by this series back in the summer and then discovered several articles about this incident that I'd missed, and needed to go back, translate them and insert them into the series. As you can see above, the missing posts have now been inserted into the correct order, and will be linked to as they're posted. Once we're caught up, all of the remaining articles lead up to the SBS yellow journalism extravaganza of February 2005. Thanks to Matthew for reminding me that I'd never finished this and inspiring me to return to it.

On January 14, 2005, the Kukmin Daily Internet News published the following article:

'Recruit a Yankee strike force!'

The stir over foreign English instructors denigrating Korean women continues to spread with no end in sight

In particular, on the evening of the 13th, Kuki News reported on the fact that another [different] foreign English instructor had posted in detail a guide to sexually harassing young girls during class, and [after this] netizens could tolerate no more, and were poised to take real action.

As of 2pm on the 14th, there is currently an "announcement of recruitment of a vanguard squad (do-or-die squad)" going around urging Korean netizens to action.

Saying that anyone who is a Korean nationals with a healthy/wholesome worldview can participate, the announcement urged that they gather in the Hongdae area at 6pm on January 15 (Sat.).

This recruiting announcement suggested 5 strike targets: the Yankee bastard who posted the instructions on how to carry out sexual violence against female Korean students and his sympathizers; the Yankee bastards who threw the promiscuous party; the owner of the bar who provided the venue knowing the facts about the  promiscuous party; the recruiting company owners who hire under-qualified foreigners knowing they have criminal records or are under-educated; if there's luck, discover U.S. soldiers on the spot in the Sinchon area who pick fights with drunk Koreans.

The announcement going around the internet also noted, "Since providing detailed strike methods beforehand could be seen as a conspiracy to commit a crime, that day at training time I will make them available. It will absolutely not go beyond the level where it would become against the law."

Also written in detail was a plan to hold a one man relay picketing demonstration and hand out flyers in front of the Hongdae club known to have held the 'promiscuous party.'

Here there are also detailed points that stand out.

▷ Clothes with American trademarks are not to be worn. ▷ Picket signs will be made in English. ▷ Masks and hats must be prepared. Among these points is even listed a means of escape: "Because a university campus is absolutely a space that can't be entered by government authority without the president's permission, if a situation arises flee to the nearest university campus."

The reaction of netizens who saw this posting was, in a word, fervent.

Netizen 'Wo ***' said, "[According to] precedent in criminal law, boycotting the particular bar related to this incident in itself does not constitute a[n un]lawful act," and cheered for it, and netizen 'ja***' said excitedly, "This method is very symbolic and conveys the voices of Koreans who have woken up." In addition, many netizens are currently discussing it as "a way for like minded people to meet."

However, there were also the voices of netizens who worried that there might be innocent victims due to this incident. Netizen 'Horang***' worried that "I want to stop it if there is talk of hitting bad American bastards with a club. Clearly the law [is there], let's all keep calm and from now on watch the government deal with it.

I already looked at this call to organize offline in the context of the 2004 USFK stabbing incident in Sinchon here. This article, however, has in addition a copy of the notice and additional, interesting points such as "clothes with American trademarks are not to be worn" and "picket signs will be made in English." Here is the text of the 'recruitment announcement.'

Announcement of recruitment of a vanguard squad (do-or-die squad)

To qualify: anyone who is a Korean national with a healthy/wholesome worldview(?)
When: 6pm on January 15 (Sat.).
Where: TBA (Hongdae area squad)
Strike targets:
1. The Yankee bastard who posted the instructions on how to carry out sexual violence against female Korean students and his sympathizers
2. The Yankee bastards who threw the promiscuous party
3. The owner of the bar who provided the venue knowing the facts about the  promiscuous party
4. The recruiting company owners who hire under-qualified foreigners knowing they have criminal records or are under-educated
5. As a bonus... if there's luck, discover U.S. soldiers on the spot in the Sinchon area who pick fights with drunk Koreans!

This article would soon be copied onto the announcement of a signature campaign to expel low quality foreign instructors at Daum. We'll look at that next.

Some photos of Koreans taken by Jack London in 1904

Quite some time ago I posted the first three parts of a series titled "Foreign correspondents in Korea during the Russo-Japanese War":

Part 1: From Japan to Korea
Part 2: In Seoul and Chemulpo
Part 3: Along the coast of Korea

I'd always meant to post more, and do still mean to, but there are dozens of photos and several hundred pages to go through to tell the story (though since I began, F.A. McKenzie's book From "Tokyo to Tiflis: Uncensored Letters from the War" has since been digitized at archive.org, which would make transcribing it much easier).

I've also posted background information about Robert Lee Dunn, one of the journalists who was in Korea, as well as two articles he wrote, "Making Presidents by Photography" and "Jack London knows not fear." I later posted an article from 1970 by Richard Rutt about Jack London's Korea-related fiction.

One thing that had intrigued me for years was talk of an upcoming book of Jack London's photographs. I'd look from time to time to see if it had been released, but it never was. Well, apparently, I hadn't looked during the past two years, since 'Jack London, Photographer' was finally released in late 2010. The cover photo (which can be seen here as well) was clearly taken in Korea.

A number of London's photos also appear in "Jack London's Racial Lives: A Critical Biography," parts of which can be read here (Italicized captions are London's own). London apparently took many photos in Korea in 1904, especially of refugees, children and elderly men:

"Children gambling."

"Trying to fire yours truly out of summer palace."

The last photo is from here, one several articles (here and here) about the publication of the photo book.

My favourite photo would be this one (from here):

Korean Girl made Homeless by the War, Seoul, Korea, 1904

[Caption from site.]

One of the things I like about this photo is the fact that he obviously crouched down to take the photo from her level. I think these photos show a lot of compassion towards the subjects on the part of the photographer.

Ironically, Jack London is not well looked upon by Koreans, and to be sure he did drone on about the 'white man' (resulting in a recent article by Kim Jonggab titled "(The)rhetoric of the white body and narrative contradiction in Jack London's Russo-Japanese War Correspondence") and wrote some rather unflattering things about Koreans. On the other hand, that same writing also reveals him being humbled by Asians on several occasions; often by the Japanese military, but also by Koreans, such as when he is roused by his 'boy,' Manyoungi, to put a stop to the local Yangban keeping the money the Japanese troops were paying for the peasants' food, and hoping to 'avenge' Isabella Bird Bishop's mistreatment at the hands of another yangban a decade earlier, goes to have a talk with the man. After he throws his weight around enough to satisfy both Manyoungi and his desire to avenge Bishop, he is assured the money will be returned. However:

But so far as concerned the return of the seventy per-cent squeeze, I knew, and Manyoungi knew, and Pak-Choon-Song knew and we all knew one another knew, that Pak-Choon-Song intended nothing of the sort.

More on Jack London's racial views can be read here.

As for the photo book, it has 230 photos, so I imagine it has many more photos taken in Korea. From the photos above and those found following the above links, it certainly looks worth purchasing.

Bus depot fire

The Joongang Daily reported today that a bus depot in Gangseo-gu caught on fire yesterday morning:

A fire in the middle of the night at a bus storage yard in western Seoul burned nearly 40 buses, disrupting some bus routes in Seoul and causing inconvenience to workers trying to get to work a few hours later.

Thirty blue city and green village buses parked in a yard in Gangseo District, western Seoul, were destroyed in the fire while another eight were partially damaged. There were 85 vehicles owned by the private Youngin Transportation Company in the yard. The total damages were estimated at 1.5 billion won ($1.4 million).

Seoul’s Gangseo Police Precinct reported yesterday two buses initially caught fire at around 3 a.m. yesterday and soon exploded. The other buses were engulfed in flames that spread.

The police are not ruling out arson. “Given the location is not a crowded residential zone but a wide open area exclusively for parking with no confirmed inflammable elements, there is a possibility the buses were torched,” said detective Lee Geun-wha from the Gangseo precinct.

The fire prompted the Gangseo Fire Department to dispatch 176 firefighters in 57 fire trucks. It took them one hour and 45 minutes to extinguish the blaze. There were no casualties.

(From here)

Living in Gangseo-gu as I do (and relatively close to two bus depots), I was curious where this was. According to this News1 article (the source of the above photo), it was in Oebalsan-dong; a look on Daum maps turned up the location (which is obviously next to a driving range in the photos above):

It's fairly close to Ujangsan Station, and pretty much next to the Balsan development and an ROK military base.

And according to MBC, police are now certain it was arson.