Several articles in the Hankyoreh about foreign English teachers

Brian in Jeollanam-do pointed out that the Hankyoreh published an article looking at the difficulties foreign English teachers face in the classroom. In fact, they published four articles on November 29:

At school we are ‘Losers’ [Translated here]
Fostering the Ability to Think Critically is Difficult with the Korean Education Process.
“Sharing information among foreign teachers”, Teacher association launched this year
At an English Cafe, playful conversation with the teacher

Kudos to the Hankyoreh for taking the time to look at the concerns of foreign teachers regarding the classroom. Yes, the Weekly Chosun also looked at such concerns back in August, but this was marred by them giving equal space to Lee Eun-ung, the manager of Anti-English Spectrum. It should be noted that the Hankyoreh stands as one of the only newspapers that has not given Anti-English Spectrum a platform.


Years ago I read a friend's copy of Lynda Barry's "Girls and Boys," pictured above (from here), which was my introduction to her work. Over the past few decades she has done more narrative style work, but this early collection of individual strips was published in a 9x5 inch book similar to the type The Far Side or Garfield strips were collected in. Seeing as such books collected humorous strips, it was a shock to see pieces in her book that weren't funny at all - often the opposite. My immediate reaction reaction was along the lines of "...does not compute." I could pretend to feel the same way about the cartoons in this Hankyoreh article:

"Forty students?"

"Why doesn't she ever consult with me about classes?"

"Do this today, OK?"

That seeing positive cartoons in a Korean newspaper about foreign English teachers would result in a response of " ....does not compute001001001100..." wouldn't be surprising, seeing as every other newspaper cartoon about foreign English teachers I've seen has been negative...

"Unqualified"

"English instructor"

(Does this comment on stereotypes, or contribute to them?)

(From here)

..or exaggerate certain facial characteristics...

"Unqualified"

(From here)

Neither of these characteristics are on display in the Hankyoreh cartoons:

"Are they going to ignore me?"

It's nice to see the concerns of the vast majority of foreign teachers being dealt with, instead of sensationalizing the crimes and cultural insensitivity of the minority.

The National Guidance League incident

The New York Times has an article about recent findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission:

In the opening months of the Korean War, the South Korean military and the police executed at least 4,900 civilians who had earlier signed up — often under force — for re-education classes meant to turn them against Communism, the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission announced Thursday.[...]

Although the panel has reported on similar civilian massacres in the past, the announcement Thursday represented the first time that a state investigative agency confirmed the nature and scale of what is known as “the National Guidance League incident” — one of the most horrific and controversial episodes of the war.

The anti-Communist and authoritarian government of President Syngman Rhee had set up the league to re-educate people who had disavowed Communism in the months before the war, and forced an estimated 300,000 South Koreans to join. At the time, the government was facing a vicious and prolonged insurgency by leftist guerrillas.

But the commission reported that many of those who joined the league had never been Communists. They either were swept up because they had provided food or other aid to Communists hiding in the hills, often at gunpoint, or were required to join by local officials seeking to meet a government quota for the number of Communists being re-educated. In some instances, the panel said, peasants were lured into joining with promises of bigger rice rations. [...]

On Thursday, the commission unveiled old government documents that contained partial lists of league members who had been killed. Documents showed that the police kept surveillance on the league members’ relatives as late as the 1980s to ensure that their children did not get government jobs, the panel said.

The article goes on to look at how it was covered up after the war, and how even in recent years people were reluctant to talk to the commission. It also mentions that the commission’s term ends next spring and is unlikely to be renewed by the Lee Myung-bak administration. Which is too bad, as much of the commission's work has been useful (though I disagreed with it looking into the colonial era, mainly because of the way it was being used politically (investigating Koreans who served in the Japanese army down to the rank that Park Chung-hee held, for example) and because the ROK didn't exist then). As for the rest, I think it's great that details about, for example, the Silmido incident were turned up, or in related investigations by the Supreme Court, that those executed on trumped up charges in the Inhyeokdang case were retried, found not guilty, and their families were compensated. Other such cases are here.

While taking into account how these findings can be used for political ends, I can only see a state taking responsibility for its past crimes and mistakes as a good thing.


(Hat tip to Tom Rainey-Smith)

Incorrect math

Benjamin Wagner sent me this October 1, 2003 Munhwa Ilbo article and translation. It's well worth reading.

On the morning of the 30th, a shocking debriefing material, as part of the parliamentary inspection of state administration, with the title "Among Foreigners Residing in Korea, a Minimum of 3,000 are infected with AIDS," came into my (the reporter's) possession. The material was from the Grand National Party's Lee Won-hyung's office. I called to confirm.

Reporter: What is the basis of this calculation?

Assemblyman Lee's Office: The total amount of foreigners residing in Korea is about 600,000, so after excluding legal residents, I multiplied 0.1 onto the number of illegal residents which amount to 300,000. The number 0.1 is the smallest figure among what UNAIDS announced as AIDS prevalence rates among countries (Southeast Asia 0.1% ~ South Africa 8.8%). Assuming that legal residents are not infected with AIDS, then even the minimum calculation comes out to be 3,000.

Reporter: (Disregarding the appropriateness of the calculation method itself) But 300,000 x 0.1 equals 300.

Assemblyman's Office: Ah, is that right? I'm sorry. I happened to be in a hurry and so...

Five minutes before the evening paper deadline. I received a phone call from the Assemblyman office. "The calculation may be incorrect, but we are just going to go ahead with it. Normally, AIDS-related statistics are usually one tenth of the actual figures, so if you multiply 10 onto 300 again, then the figure turns out to be 3,000. This was totally absurd. So I asked, "If you use that kind of method of calculation, then it would mean that it is possible that a minimum of several tens of thousands of Koreans are infected with AIDS. Would you be willing to take responsibility for that kind of statistic? Also, what is the importance of resident status that you would include only illegal residents in the figure of AIDS-infected foreigners? Don't you know that a British legal resident foreigner who once worked as an English professor at "S" University in Seoul was forcefully deported because his homosexual lover reported him?" I only got an obscure and smothered response.

I called the National Institute of Health. "A certain Assemblyman used this kind of calculation... Is it right?" The answer: "That is only a basic equation. To calculate the prevalence rate of a disease or the number of people infected with a disease, the calculation should be much, much more elaborate and precise."

To take such a sensitive topic such as AIDS infection rates, and to just use the most basic form of math, and incorrectly at that, and then to create and distribute material based on that, and then to take on such an irresponsible attitude of "Oh, if not, then never mind," ... this kind of practice is still being repeated by those in charge of parliamentary inspection of state administration. Why is it that they do not know that such debriefings not only ruins the reputation of the Assemblyman himself but also of whatever remains of the last bit of authority that the parliamentary inspections has right now, a policy that is already being constantly deemed as useless by many.

Score sheet: Rep. Lee Won-hyung earns my contempt, and reporter Lee Gang-yun earns my admiration. Wagner puts this article into context looking at Anti-English Spectrum's foreign English teachers =AIDS campaign here).

Culture educational programs and incorrect E-2 numbers

In a KBS piece quoted in a lengthy post at Brian in Jeollanam-do, we're told that:

Representative Cho Jeon-hyuk of the ruling Grand National Party, who is also a member of the parliamentary committee on education, proposed on Thursday revisions to laws on schools and private institutes.

The revised bills seek to make it mandatory for private institutes to have foreign teachers complete educational programs on South Korea’s culture and people.

Not a bad idea. It would be great if such looks at culture would take in a number of concepts such as those discussed by Horace Underwood (listed here) such as hierarchy, the emphasis on loyalty over honesty, and Chemyeon or 'face' in Korean culture, as well as the concept of Korea as a 'high context' society in comparison to Western 'low context' societies as discussed in ATEK's guide.

It would also be useful to look at things like traditional conflict resolution and how it leaves non-Korean speakers at a disadvantage. Allow me again to quote what anthropologist Linda Louis wrote in Laying Claim to the Memory of May:

As a social process, the Korean cultural scenario for conflict resolution involves the public expression of grievances by both sides, as a means of informing the neighbors, of shaping local consensus, and of mustering popular support for each side of the argument.

It is above all else also a process that relies heavily on the involvement of a third, mediating party for a successful outcome. In fact, it is through the public airing of the dispute that the antagonists solicit the intervention of others. Intense verbal aggression and the public expression of grievances serve not as a prelude to physical violence, but function to mobilize third party intervention, to prevent just such an escalation in the dispute.

Many foreigners are never going to get a fair hearing in such situations, simply because they can't speak Korean well. This would also explain how "concerned citizens" often appear to help Koreans who get into an altercation with a foreigner.

I certainly hope the definition of Korea's culture would not be limited to such things as '5000 years of history' and Dokdo, though - thinking of how the tour at Changdok Palace goes, with yawn-inducing comparisons of ondol vs radiators and how many gan a certain building is, but no stories of what happened to Prince Sado there - I fear that's what might end up being focused on. Which would really be too bad, because such classes could be a great opportunity, though I imagine the only way they could be made truly interesting and useful to foreigners in Korea would be if foreigners in Korea were consulted.

Our favourite Korea Times reporter has an article revealing the reaction to this, with the following title: "Foreign Teachers Unenthusiastic Over Culture Course." I am happy to see ATEK's statement there offering to work with the government, as I think that's a good approach on their part. The article ends like this:

Cho indicated that he is seeking programs that will help native English instructors better understand local culture and also improve their teaching skills.

"Schools and hagwon hire native English speakers but most of them are visiting Korea for the first time and have no teaching experiences," Cho said.

The number of the foreigners with E-2 or English-teaching visas has risen to about 43,000 this year from 29,236 in 2006 and 22,345 in 2003. In public schools, the number of E-2 visa holders has increased 20-fold over the past seven years. Cho's office expects the number of E-2 visa holders to reach 50,000 by 2012.

Once again, a National Assembly representative gets the numbers wrong because they're using the wrong statistics, much as Choi Yeong-hui did, though at least they're not being used to say 22,000 teachers are missing this time. The E-2 numbers were 19,771 at the end of last year, and according to Rep. Park Min-sik, there were 21,498 E-2 visa holders as of July.

Death threat leveled at ATEK

[Update: The Joongang Ilbo reports on this here.]

From the Korea Herald:

The president of the Association of English Teachers in Korea received an anonymous e-mail threatening his death and accusing him of committing sex crimes after rumors of a former member of ATEK were posted online.

Members of ATEK received two e-mails, one containing threats and another with an image apparently taken from a Naver Cafe post, but with ATEK president Greg Dolezal's picture added.

"I have organized the KEK (Kill White in Korea). This group of people is about 200 in anywhere in Korea," the e-mail read. "We will gonna start to kill and hit White (expletives) english spectrum from this Chirstmas. Don't make a fuss in there, just get out."

Not big on white Christmases, I guess.

Dolezal said he was taking all legal steps possible. Gimhae Police Department is investigating the case, and Dolezal said he was happy with how they were dealing with the situation.

"The detectives there and the foreign affairs liaison have been very cooperative and seem extremely keen to do something about it," he said.

It's good to know the police are being helpful. The article is a little muddled, but it seems, judging by the use of English, (ie. "Remember: Not all English teachers are bad, but this one is horrible" and "I hope you speak English") that a native-speaker of English sent AES information posted on an AFEK [and currently also an ATEK] member's blog earlier this year which listed alleged misconduct by a former ATEK member, though the 'former' status was not mentioned on the AES post. As the article tells us, this information was

posted on Anti-English Spectrum at 9:30 p.m. on Monday. The threatening e-mail was sent just three hours later.[...]

The threatening e-mail contained what appear to be screenshots from this post with a picture of Dolezal added, and made the above accusations against him.[...]

A post condemning the death threats and explaining that Dolezal had nothing to do with the allegations was put up after The Korea Herald contacted the AES manager about the threatening e-mail.[...]

The AES cafe manager would not provide The Korea Herald directly with a statement on the death threat e-mail. "However strained relations may be, we need to maintain basic human decency," the notice on the AES website read. "We cannot forgive the person who sent this threatening mail. If we find that person we will definitely report them to the police," it added further down.

The person that issued the death threat sent an apology -- after the notice was posted on AES -- but remained anonymous and said he was motivated by some English teachers' "immoral behaviors."

"He continued to use hateful language," said Dolezal of the apology. "He alluded to the fact that he's not going to stop."

Over at the Marmot's Hole, Peter Kim cut and pasted a message from Lee Eun-ung to innocent teachers and asked for their cooperation in turning in bad teachers, and in return, he says "I will devote myself to improving your image. I await your call.”

I guess he meant himself only, and not the rest of AES, seeing as when an informant decided to take him up on his offer, ATEK received death threats. I have to say, I really hope death isn't the only way foreign English teachers can improve their image.

Sweet Dream

A year ago the Korea Times reported on the oldest existing Korean film:

The Korean Film Archive (KOFA) on Tuesday screened the oldest surviving Korean film, "Cheongchun's Sipjaro,'' which was made in 1934. A film archive official said the film, directed by An Jong-hwa, was discovered in Korea. However, the owner of the film declined to be identified.[...]

According to KOFA, there were seven domestic films produced between 1910 and 1920, and 61 films from 1920 to 1930. However, the KOFA does not have copies of the films made between 1910 and 1930. Between 1930 and 1940, there were 73 films produced, but only copies of five films have been acquired by the KOFA. [...]

"Cheongchun's Sipjaro,'' a black-and-white silent film, was first screened at the Joseon Theater, Seoul in September 1934. The film is a melodrama about lives of the poor.[...]

Before "Cheongchun's Sipjaro'' was discovered, the oldest Korean film that KOFA preserved was 1936's "Mimong'' (Sweet Dream). "Mimong'' was directed and edited by Yang Ju-nam in 1936. The China Film Archive donated the film to the KOFA in 2005. Almost the entire reel of the film was preserved.

Late last year a second DVD box set titled 'The Past Unearthed' was released, and included three films from the 1930s, including the aforementioned Mimong, which had been restored. The first box set included films from the 1940s, two of which I looked at here and here [Two more have been released since then, here and here]. This time I'll look at Mimong.

Mimong is the story of how modernity is corrupting women, or at least that's one interpretation. The wife in the story has no interest in tending to her husband or raising their daughter, spending too much time on herself.



She goes off to the store, meets her daughter (above) in the street, and tells her she will buy her some clothes. The visit to the store (and the entire movie) highlight different aspects of modernity, such as mannequins:



A shifty guy steals her wallet, 'finds' it for her, and asks her out for a drink.




As they drink beer at a restaurant/cafe, her husband also drinks it at home. Upon her return there, her husband gets angry at her and sends her on her way.


There she shacks up with her new, rich beau and engages in scandalous behavior - like smoking in bed.



Then the shifty fellow uses a telephone to plan the robbery of a hotel customer.


Meanwhile, the woman's daughter is at at school, learning about traffic safety, though she may not be paying enough attention.


The woman enjoys things like modern dance recitals and getting her hair done at a hair salon.


Then she finds out her new beau is not the rich man he said he was, and snitches to the police about his thieving. She decides to rush off to Busan, taking a taxi to Seoul Station.


On the way, she passes Namdaemun.



She arrives too late, seeing the train leave, and orders the taxi driver to race it to the next station (Namyeong or Yongsan, I imagine).


In an odd coincidence, the taxi, in such a hurry, runs over a little girl - the woman's daughter.


Looking at the bridge in the background, and the angle at which the street passes under it, the route the taxi takes can be seen below.


The daughter turns out to be okay, but I'm sure you can imagine the fate of the woman, as there's really only one thing she can do, right?

As this page notes,

The movie was released sometime after Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House debuted in Japanese-occupied Korea, when debates about "New Women" were particularly rife. As such, it reflects popular attitudes regarding New Women at the time. Ae-soon's unconvincing insistence on buying the most expensive items at a department store and the sudden castigation she is subjected to for the purpose of emphasizing maternal responsibility appear to be forced moves that were introduced into the unfolding narrative in an attempt to reductively portray the controversial New Woman as licentious, vain, and immoral.

This looks more closely at the concept of the 'modern girl.'

In colonial Korea, the "modern girl" became another name for new woman. It was also an imaginary location where all the "bad" elements of emulation congregated, and was used as a term that effectively expresses the "vanity" and "shell" of a new woman. The elements included fascination with new goods and customs symbolized by bobbed hair and western-hybrid dresses, and the awakening to bodies and sexual desires. The Korean modern girl was a new woman as the object of envy, scorn, or voyeurism. But such objectification was ambivalent. On the one hand, bodies, sexuality, and modern customs were criticized as decadent and corrupt, but on the other hand, they were fascinating. A Cartoonist An Sokju denounced the modern girl phenomenon for immorality, depravity, and capitalist commodification, yet his art reveals his own desire, fascination, and fetishism.

Here's an example of An's work (more can be seen here):

I can't help but wonder how the concept of the 'modern girl' of the 1920s and 1930s compares to the more recent concept of the doengjang nyeo:

What is a "Doenjang Girl," you might ask? Definitions differ, but tell-tale signs include the following: using a lot of high-priced scents and makeup; wearing luxury one-piece dresses and handbags; eating at expensive "family restaurants" like TGI Friday's and posting photos of the food on your homepage; frequent window shopping at major department stores; imitating "New Yorkers," or at least as they appear in "Sex and the City," a favorite "Doenjang Girl" program. Oh, and the most obvious symptom---walking around with a cup of Starbucks coffee in your hand.( SEOUL magazine. 2006/08/16)

The Chosun Ilbo explains further:

One Netizen's satirical account of a day in the life of a doenjang-nyeo runs as follows. "Gets up at 7:30 a.m. to the sound of the cell phone alarm, even though her first class doesn't start till 10, and heads for the bathroom. To give her hair the Jeon Ji-hyun-look, she refuses to use cheap shampoos... she can't eat breakfast because she’s too busy doing her makeup, so she heads for the Dunkin Donuts in front of her school.

"For diet reasons, she orders a straight Americano -- no sugar, no cream -- but then eats donuts crammed with jam and sugar. Same for lunch. Because the doenjang-nyeo knows how precious she is (just like the L'Oreal commercials, she says to herself, 'Because I'm worth it!') she can never be seen eating with the rest of the students at the cafeteria or the student center. The three just don’t mesh.

“The doenjang-nyeo blows in one sitting the amount a regular student spends on food for a week.”

Certain aspects of this are also looked at in this Joongang Ilbo article.

I wonder what contemporary movie could be used to illustrate the concept of the doenjang nyeo? And what is there to say when such similar attitudes exist towards these women 80 years later?

New word for the day

애처롭다

1.pitiful, pitiable, piteous, touching, pathetic, sad, plaintive, deplorable.

Such as, "홀로 있는 모습 애처로워", or 'her lonely figure is pitiable,' in reference the netizen reaction to this photo:

Naver's response to the Vandom letter?

On Wednesday, the Korea Times reported on Andrea Vandom's letter to NHN regarding Anti-English Spectrum:

Korea's No.1 Web portal Naver has started to look into a letter of complaint from a foreign English lecturer over a blog that many Western English teachers called "xenophobic." NHN, the operator of Naver.com told The Korea Times Wednesday they were examining whether the blog "Anti-English Spectrum" posted material that violated the company's user agreement. [...]

While looking into the case, the Naver operator made it clear that the company is free from any kind of valuation. "For example, if somebody posts that you are a molester and you want to delete the posting. Then, we can remove it, even if you really are a molester," said Won Yoo-sik, a spokesman for the company. "Also, if the poster writer is unhappy with this and requests us to restore the posting, we could do so."

He noted that group complaints would carry more weight, adding in this case an individual complained about posts regarding native English teachers, and said he was unsure whether the company would do something in response.

So the spokesman "noted that group complaints would carry more weight," which seems like a suggestion to me.

Suddenly, a day later, the Korea Times, in a classic Kang Shin-who article, tells us that "Naver has rejected a request by native English teachers to remove what they call derogatory and racial postings on a blog known as the “Anti-English Spectrum.”

The money quote:

“Our monitoring team examined cases stipulated in the request and concluded that Andrea Vandom’s claim doesn’t merit any corrective action,” said Kim Hyun-chang, Naver’s PR official.

The article features crowing by Anti-English Spectrum, testiness from ATEK, a smiling picture of NHN's CEO which is hard to interpret as anything but a taunt from the KT, and this bizarre ending:

Meanwhile, immigration authorities tried to summon Vandom, who refused to undergo an HIV test but still got her E-2 visa extended through a mistake made by a Suwon visa official. Kim Kwang-tae, an official in charge of the case at the Suwon Immigration Office, said Vandom was still being sought, adding that her visa status was no longer valid. Last January, Vandom filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court against E-2 visa regulations that require English teacher applicants to undergo AIDS/HIV and drug tests.

Benjamin Wagner was contacted for his opinion, but refused to give a quote for the article unless he was given a concrete statement from Naver to comment on - which he wasn't.

Keep in mind the article was written by a reporter who has persisted in writing articles pushing a certain angle even after being corrected, and most recently was said to have misquoted the president of Seoul National University of Education.

Benjamin Wagner commented on another post and what he said is worth repeating. In response to a comment saying, "Naver just told all of us to screw off," he replies:

I don't think that is the case. I think that's the reaction that the KT and Kang Shin Who is trying to provoke.

In fact Naver has acknowledged that content is racially discriminatory. And has said directly that group complaints would help to motivate Naver to do more (hardly surprising).

Foreigners should avoid being baited and provoked by the KT. They should be the ones who decide the proper outcome of this issue, not Kang who spends 15 minutes on a fake article.

Foreign English teachers aren't the only ones the KT and Kang Shin Who are trying to provoke.

Notice that the article marks Vandom as a fugitive who is "still being sought" with a "visa status...no longer valid." (Even though the letter says she is a UC Ph.D student currently living in California.) Notice also that KT and Kang Shin Who posted Vandom's photo (stolen from another article without permission) on the first Naver article that was printed in the papers. Keep in mind that this is all about a group that stalks foreigners.

What you have is encouragement for Vandom (who is "still being sought" by Immigration) to be tracked and found since immigration can't do it - this is where AES has their expertise.

He continued:

You have to remember where that quote was filtered through. This is a paper that starts out with the goal of writing a story that says "foreigners bring another meritless claim."

The same thing was said when Vandom refused to take the AIDS & drugs tests. First, MOJ said "she did indeed submit them, and that's why she got a visa." Then it was proved she didn't and they changed their story to "these tests are completely legitimate and there is absolutely no basis for challenging them." Then a public interest law firm took the case (obviously some merit). Then the Constitutional Court took the case - and they certainly could have refused it. So merit clearly established. Next, the MOJ says we are repealing the AIDS ban for foreigners, but we will wait to see if the Court says E-2 visa are discriminatory.

The whole time the KT was on the side of whoever said the claims were meritless. That's the fixed story: "foreigners make trouble for no damn good reason." That's what you will continue to see.

And now this article. As for that exact quote: "Our monitoring team examined cases stipulated in the request and concluded that Andrea Vandom’s claim doesn’t merit any corrective action."

Are we sure that's what was even said? Goodness knows the KT has had scores of other completely false quotes. Besides we have another extremely well researched article (as opposed to the KT spot piece) where a Naver official says "in this case 'black pig' is definitely a racist comment."

Now that's a quote with some specificity. Contrast that with the KT quote from Naver - assuming that it's even accurate (which is strongly in doubt) what does "cases stipulated in the request" really mean?

Does that mean Naver thinks its alright to say foreigners have AIDS and are actively targeting Korean children to infect them? Of course it doesn't. Those posts will be pulled, in fact are being pulled right now. Same as the "black pig[s]" comment.

But the KT doesn't want to report that and naturally NHN would like to avoid a controversy. So what you get is the manufactured quote we have.

As I said before:

Foreigners should avoid being baited and provoked by the KT. They should be the ones who decide the proper outcome of this issue, not Kang who spends 15 minutes on a fake article.

I suppose contacting Naver - for clarification or to lodge a further complaint against AES (as a group?) - would be helpful, as would checking to see if the problematic posts are still up. Would it really be surprising if the recommendations are quietly being carried out while the KT paints a picture of uppity foreigners being put in their place by Naver and a victorious Anti-English Spectrum?

On a related note, the photo of the building below in the Mok-dong area was recently posted on Anti-English Spectrum as the location of a teacher being 'pursued'.

Criticism of Anti-English Spectrum in the Korea Herald

In the Korea Herald today are two articles criticizing Anti-English Spectrum. One of them was written by myself, and shouldn't be unfamiliar ground for readers of this blog. The other article, written by Adam Walsh, displays the fruits of his research and interviews. As he notes,

Further involvement in the AIDS public opinion field was the group's successful influencing of foreign visa regulations using false statistics. Bill (3356), which is now at the National Assembly, is designed to allow AIDS testing for any foreigners coming into Korea on working visas. The bill contains a statistic which originates from Anti-English Spectrum, and has been quoted by the group's administrator in the media on numerous occasions. It states that in 2007 the Itaewon AIDS clinic performed 80 percent of its tests on foreign teachers and foreign white collar workers.
Korea AIDS/HIV Prevention & Support Center statistics for that year show that the 80 percent statistic is false. Furthermore, KHAP director Yu Sung-chal told Expat Living that the clinic "moved to Seongbuk-gu in 2006, so it makes no sense to say that the Itaewon clinic sent out these statistics."

I looked at this back in June, pointing out that the statistic first appeared in a Lee Eun-ung-penned Weekly Kyunghyang article in February in almost identical language, but that the 2007 date was wrong, which was noted by Benjamin Wagner here, and confirmed once more above. Another more interesting interview follows:

When Assemblyman Lee Sang-jun, who is behind Bill (3356) was asked by the Herald about the false statistic, he stated that he got the stats from the Ministry of Justice, and that he does not remember who in the ministry he got them from. "I do go over statistics at times. But in this case, since they are not the vital issue here, but rather a reference, I didn't check the facts."

The same dubious statistic can be traced back even further. A petition from AES sent to the Ministry of Justice in 2006 bears the same 80 percent figure. Around this time, Anti-English Spectrum assisted in an online article that alleged the percentage was English teachers, leaving out the mention of white collar workers. The picture included with the article is of a white man giving a blood sample to a nurse -- presumably an English teacher, since the article is about EFL teachers -- with the caption once again mentioning the Itaewon AIDS tests.

As it turns out, the photo was a fake. The picture is of President George W. Bush's former U.S. Global AIDS coordinator being publicly tested for HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia in an effort to fight AIDS stigma. The same picture is on Wikipedia.

This Wikipedia entry, in fact. So we know that the statistic is from the 2006 Breaknews article about AIDS and English teachers, seeing as the Itaewon clinic didn't exist in 2007, and, as a bonus, we know Breaknews article used a photo of a US government employee taken from Wikipedia. Of course, this is Breaknews we're talking about, so such a lack of professionalism isn't surprising, of course. What is interesting, however, is not only do we know that the commentary on Bill 3356 has a statistic lifted straight from an article penned by a member of Anti-English Spectrum, but according to Rep. Lee Sang-jun, the statistic came from the Ministry of Justice.
I'm sure no one is picking their lower jaw up off the floor upon reading that the Ministry of Justice uses a group like Anti-English Spectrum as a source of statistics, of course, especially considering the way national assembly representatives have been misusing them lately (see here, here, and here).
As noted in this post on Anti-English Spectrum's campaign to turn foreign English teachers into AIDS threats, one of the articles the misused was this September 8, 2006 article at the website of the Korean Alliance to Defeat AIDS:

Kim Ji-young of the AIDS Prevention Center says without hesitation that “Korea’s men are the biggest victims of AIDS.” After seeing the attitude of a foreign English teacher after he/she found out that he/she was infected with AIDS, she says that she was very shocked by the difference in thinking that is still deeply rooted in our society.[...]

"There is too much of a clear difference in the way people view the disease and how they view those who are infected, and therefore it is a reality that people infected with AIDS within our society can only live buried under the shadows. It is now time to pull them up out into the light, and altogether be concerned and find a solution together.[...]

She meant she was shocked at the teacher's positive attitude, but AES used this as grist for their foreign English teacher = AIDS mill. The woman quoted above is also quoted in Walsh's article.

When reached for comment, the director of the AIDS Prevention Center in Daegu did not have nice things to say about Anti-English Spectrum. "I think they are highly nationalistic and they treat foreigners as our enemies ... I do believe in freedom of speech, however, what they are sending out is highly controversial and might send out the wrong perception," said Kim Ji-young.

There are some good interviews in that article - kudos to him for researching and writing it.

There's been some debate about the influence of AES, and while exaggerating it is not a good idea, downplaying it isn't either. As seen in their list of accomplishments, AES has claimed that they have contributed to many news articles and television news programs. While they may be exaggerating these, it's worth noting that there are more than a few articles out there which feature interviews with cafe manager Lee Eun-ung or which mention AES in the articles. And yes, while these include tabloids like Inside Story/Breaknews [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7] and Sports Chosun, they also include the Chosun Ilbo, Chosun.com [1, 2,], Weekly Chosun, Donga Ilbo, Weekly Kyunghyang [1, 2], Seoul Shinmun [1, 2], Joongang Ilbo, the Korea Times[1, 2] and LA Times. Also worth noting is that first Chosun.com story from June 30 didn't just make the top of Chosun.com's homepage (as Brian pointed out), it made the top of the Naver.com homepage - an audience of millions.


Along with those AES was also publicly credited for the Pandora's Box TV show and publicly took 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 or Neil came to light). It's also likely a number of the articles it takes credit for are genuine - AES has a particular style, with either outlandish claims or blanket moral condemnation being readily apparent, that's not easy to miss. But even if AES had done little after forming, that might have been enough. The English Spectrum incident (see here and here) was what started the media representation of foreign English teachers as 'unqualified'. Still, I doubt things have gotten to the point where national assembly members publicly accuse foreign teachers of hidden crimes and speak of a foreign teacher 'problem' without a need to explain what this problem is without a bit of a push from somewhere. As I wrote in the comment section awhile back:

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 six 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 clamor 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.

So then the question is - what do we do about this?

Kushibo has suggested that it is the fact that AES is seen as the 'go to' organization for news media when it comes to getting juicy quotes for stories about foreign teachers, and the fact they seem to have people in the government listening to them, that is the greatest problem, and suggests submitting a complaint to the National Human Rights Commission. It sounds like a good idea to me.

As Tony has pointed out, information on how to file a complaint is here, while the online complaint application is here.

There is a lot of information out there already that could be used in complaints. I'll likely try to compile more in the near future.

Oops!

Late, absent/ gets money and does a runner/ molestation

The above cartoon is from a August 16, 2006 Seoul Shinmun article titled "Washout Native-Speaking Teacher Problem." Pretty cute.

The article is about the Korean Recruiting Association's blacklist of 'low quality' teachers, something that became news in 2006, and was bolstered by the August 18/19 realization that John Mark Karr had taught in Korea. The blacklist story also made MBC ("Foreign language hagwon, Unbelievable native speaking teachers") and SBS ("English speaking sex criminals openly teach English in Asia"). The blacklist was first brought to light, however, by an August 7 Breaknews story titled "Low quality English teachers: 'Korean women are a source of money and sex partners'" (the paper edition is seen here). The story is mostly full of juicy stories of bastard teachers provided by "Mr. Kim", a member of the "movement against low quality foreign teachers", who, as "Mr.K" provides tips for several Breaknews articles (the first of which extolled the virtues of Anti-English Spectrum)

On October 29, 2006, that BreakNews article was reposted at Anti-English Spectrum, and in the comments, members thanked 'Mr. Kim'. 'M2' - 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 a Breaknews article published two days later, Mr. K also makes comments, and is described as "Low quality native speaking teacher deportation site manager Mr. K," also suggesting this is a pseudonym for Lee Eun-ung.


Last night I watched the documentary 'Burden of Dreams,' about Werner Herzog's attempts to make the film 'Fitzcarraldo'. At one point he describes some of his problems with the locals:

They spread rumours we would slaughter them and take the grease out of their bodies and cook the grease and that we would rape their women and that we would do any kind of harm to them

We are necessary as an enemy that can be beaten, because they will not dare to attack the military camps, they will not dare to attack the petrol companies, but since we are small, we may be the losers.

Of course, since this is about the denizens of the Amazon River basin, it really has little to do with Korean news articles, xenophobic groups, or cute cartoons. Oops!

Korean translation of the NHN letter up

A Korean translation of Andrea Vandom's letter to NHN is now up here.

Update: An article in UC Irvine's newspaper 'New University' is here.

Puff Piece about Anti-English Spectrum

[Update: Korea Beat's translation is here.] 

NoCut News has a puff piece about Anti-English Spectrum published on November 10 and written by CBS Busan reporter Kim Hye-gyeong, which has a really cute title: 

Delinquent foreign instructors, "Freeze!" 

Citizens for Upstanding English Education... 100 foreigners caught for drugs, assault, being unqualified 

Last May in Busan, K (30) a Canadian who taught English at a hagwon who had lots of marijuana and other drug paraphernalia at his home and habitually took drugs was arrested by police. Mr. K was stoned while teaching his lessons, and had a record of violence in Canada where he was stripped of his teaching qualifications. 

 

Last August in Seoul, G (29), an American who made money from gambling, was among 15 people arrested by police for gambling for years. Among the arrested was someone who habitually did drugs and another who taught at a well-known hagwon on a tourist visa.

It is foreign teachers like these who cause problems like drugs, gambling, violence, and being unqualified that the well known internet cafe ‘Citizens for Upstanding English Education’ relentlessly pursue to bring their crimes to light. 

3 years ago, the crimes of unqualified foreign teachers shocked these citizens who spontaneously formed this group, and to this point they have tracked and exposed 100 foreigners who have done drugs, committed assault, or entered the country without a visa, which, after the related authorities have been notified, has resulted in their deportation. 

If members discover problem foreign instructors, they use their cafe pseudonym to leave a tip for the manager or send him a note, who then tracks the teachers with others for two to three months on average. The cafe’s method involves relentlessly pursuing them and finally when evidence is secured and the location of the crimes confirmed the police are called. 

The people who provide tips come from all walks of life and include parents of children who attend English hagwons, Korean English instructors (co-workers), and employees at bars and restaurants frequented by foreigners. 

Cafe manager Lee Eun-ung (39) says "When people suffer abuses such as violence from foreigners, if they directly contact the police, then their identities become exposed and they have to be subjected to investigation, and therefore because of that sense of burden, our members receive counseling through our cafe and they also report such abuse cases (of being victimized)." "Recently, innocent/good foreigners, who are also being harmed because of some other troublesome foreigners, are submitting reports to our cafe immediately whenever they see a troublesome foreigner, as a part of their efforts for self-purification."

The cafe played a large part in the arrest on November 6 of many people who took new drugs with the street names 'skunk' and 'Spice', at clubs in Itaewon and Hongdae. 

Members discovered foreign sites openly circulating new drugs last February, and persistently asked related agencies to have them designated as illegal drugs with success. 

The cafe mainly monitors those problem foreign instructors in the capital area of Seoul and Gyeonggi-do but is expanding its area of operations. 

In places where foreign language classes have a lot of demand teachers are treated in a similar manner as in Seoul but citizens’ observation activities and police crackdowns are not as strong against the activities of unqualified foreign teachers that are surfacing in Busan and Gyeongsangnam-do. 

In fact, the foreign teacher community in Busan and Gyeongsangnam-do can work relatively freely without work visas at well-known hagwons and can stay in Korea for long periods on tourist visas.

Though until last year the cafe had almost no tips about cases of inferior foreign teachers in Busan and Gyeongsangnam-do, this year the total number of tips jumped 20-30% and five foreigners were expelled because of tips the cafe received. 

In Busan both the Office of Education and the police’s sustained crackdown and the citizens' fervent monitoring activities are pointing out inferior English instructors’ teaching activities, activities outside classes, private lessons, drug-taking and gambling.

Note: It's nice to see a little more information about their stalking activities, though it's troubling (if unsurprising) to see Kim Hye-gyeong and CBS cheering them on. As for Lee's comments about foreigners contacting him as part of their 'self-purification' (similar perhaps to the 'self-criticism' sessions north of the DMZ?), I have to wonder how many foreign teachers would approach a group like AES, which isn't known (in English) as anything other than a xenophobic group of vigilantes, if they're known at all. His comments in other articles about English teachers contacting him for help sound equally as 'truthy'. 

Quite interesting is Lee's comment attempting to legitimize their vigilante function by proposing himself and his posse as a solution to the pressures felt by those who would go to the police. Why bother with the police when it comes to foreign English teachers (whose undisclosed crimes in Busan are rising, don't you know) when a bunch of vigilantes can simply assume their powers instead?