Gusts Of Popular Feeling: Foreign instructor: "Korea is a cash and women dispenser."

Foreign instructor: "Korea is a cash and women dispenser."

"[He] gave a high school alcohol and marijuana and took off her top and..." (English conversation student); "A middle school girl could see he even made spelling mistakes..." (female middle school student); "Class preparation. Absolutely none. I just have a shower." (Illegal foreign instructor); "It's easy to pick up one or two girls a week. I've slept with 50 girls in a year." (foreign instructor); "I look at whether they are white and their appearance. These are all the qualifications they need." (Hagwon owner); "Hongdae. I go there to pick up women. The easiest place to pick up Korean women is Itaewon, and after that is Hongdae, and Apgujeong is the hardest." (Foreign instructor); "Korea is a country that doesn't realize that, even though [they're both] foreigners, it gives preferential treatment to white people and discriminates against Southeast Asians." (Filipino worker).

This is what appeared in interviews on the SBS show "I Want to Know That" broadcast on the 19th which dealt with the problem of illegal foreign instructors. These interviews showed plainly just how serious the illegal foreign instructor problem is.

As writing was posted at a foreign instructor internet site which regarded Korean women as sexual playthings, it went beyond the seriousness of the realities of illegal foreign instructors, which had become a social issue, representing just how sick the perception of our society and some people is.

The things shown on the broadcast that day, the evils of the conduct of those illegally hired, through means like faked backgrounds, as foreign instructors in Korea even though they didn't have any qualifications as instructors, were incredibly shocking. From sexually assaulting a high school girl to dishonest classes, there wasn't a part [of the broadcast] that wasn't a problem.

An instructor who took one of his high school students to his house and not only gave her alcohol but smoked marijuana with her and then took off her top; a foreign professor who, even though he was a bellboy with only a high school education, was appointed as a professor at a famous private university because he faked his background and, because he claimed he published an article that was well-known abroad, he even received 12 million won in research expenses; a foreign instructor who couldn't even spell words elementary school students would know; a foreign instructor who went to Hongdae clubs only to "pick up girls"... there are now crowds of illegal instructors taking over our nation's hagwons.

This phenomenon of illegal foreign instructors abounding has been caused by a mix of mistaken English-first-ism and the terrible delusion that as long as someone is a white foreigner they can all speak English well, hagwon owners and brokers who know only money even if [the teachers] are illegal, relevant government offices and organs which put the blame on a lack of personnel, our thoroughly dual consciousness regarding the west and the US versus Southeast Asians, and inadequate laws and systems.

Peter Park, a Korean American who graduated with high marks from a university in the US and, after working at a bank, came to Korea and works as an English instructor, showed our present hiring situation regarding foreign instructors when he complained, "Even though I have instructor qualifications and English skills, because my appearance isn't white I can't find a job at a hagwon. In the US I was discriminated against as an Asian, so does it make sense that in my homeland as well I'm discriminated against because of my appearance?"

As well, though they have legal work qualifications and are working at their workplace, just because they are Southeast Asians immigration officials will violate their human rights in ways like putting them in handcuffs, while, on the other hand, white people like Americans and Canadians are not cracked down on properly for marijuana, drugs, rape, or illegal employment, and this two-faced foreigner management system is also one reason why illegal instructors are taking over in our land.

Because of this problem, "Korea is a country where you can easily get cash and women," flies sarcastically out of the mouth of an illegal foreign instructor. To stop further ridicule like "Korea is a cash and women dispenser" from coming out of their mouths, not only must the law and system, but also our consciousness must be improved.

Bae Gung-nam, Multiculturalism Special Reporter

This is quite typical of the confusion seen in the Korean media between a news-reporting article and an editorial. One also has to appreciate the way in which My Daily serves up the most sensationalist aspects of the SBS broadcast - which was itself already incredibly sensationalist. Of course, My Daily had been peddling this tabloid take on foreign teachers for weeks and someone there must have felt some validation in seeing the site's accusations suddenly get a national spotlight. And then there's the fact that an incredibly sensationalist article calling for a more critical consciousness regarding white people was written by a "Multiculturalism Special Reporter." You can't make that stuff up.

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Thursday, September 01, 2016

Foreign instructor: "Korea is a cash and women dispenser."

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