'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.