A cautionary tale

Update:

Fixed the link - sorry about that. Also, according to this Yonhap article I just found, the arrests took place in Cheongju on September 7, 2004. The writer of the article linked below, Jason Storbakken, is mentioned in the Yonhap article as 스토바겐(27.미국)씨. In his story, he mentions that he and his three friends were part of a group of 15 teachers who were arrested, though the Yonhap story mentions only 12 people who were arrested. At any rate, it's interesting to have the story behind the story of this Yonhap article, though it's certainly not the first piece of writing about being arrested for drug use in Korea.

Original post:

While looking for something else I stumbled across this story from 2005 by an English teacher who was arrested for testing positive for THC. As a result, he spent two months in jail waiting for his trial, and had to pay a fine before being deported. I found this interesting:

We were returned to our cells at the Sondong Detention Center and a week later brought back to court for sentencing. The judges said Adam and I had to pay $3,400 (reduced from $5,000 because we had served two months), and be deported. Our sentence was slightly harsher than Felix’s, because he had not yet acquired his educator’s visa, while we were officially teachers.[Emphasis added.]

You'd think there would have been more repercussions due to teaching illegally, though perhaps the police did not realize this (it does note that 'Felix' had to serve out his sentence because he couldn't pay a fine, and it seemed to be more than 6 months). It's interesting that those who were 'officially teachers' got a stiffer punishment than someone who was not, perhaps commenting on the higher expectations of teachers in Korea (note that this took place before the English Spectrum incident).

On another note, the slow police reaction to the 'riot' he describes at Hwaseong Detention Center isn't very encouraging.

Bits and Pieces

Roboseyo has a post well worth reading about the portrayal of foreigners on Korean television. If you haven't already, go read it.

Mark at the Jeonju Hub sent me a link to this article titled "The ‘Foreign English Teacher’ - A Necessary “Danger” in South Korea." There are some interesting points there, but the author seems to take the 'unqualified teacher' idea a bit far considering that during the fallout of the English Spectrum incident five years ago the main issue surrounding "unqualified" teachers was not their academic qualifications but their 'moral' qualifications (ie - teachers who had sex with Korean women and bragged about it were not 'qualified'). Some of the larger points about the disconnect between crime statistics and the media and government's description of foreign teacher crime, and the need to accept qualified teachers from countries other than the 7 E-2 native speaking countries I can agree with, though the change in mindset needed for such acceptance will likely not be happening any time soon. Also worth noting, as Brian has many times, is that even if teachers with the proper academic qualifications were brought in to teach English, it's quite likely they wouldn't be used properly anyway.

A few weeks ago the Korea Herald asked "Is volunteer work illegal for expats?". The answer seems to be 'perhaps not,' but also 'it depends on the whims of immigration.' A description of some of the organizations one can volunteer for is here. The Herald also has an article on ATEK's first year. Related to volunteering is this:

On that front, the group recently scored a major victory when its Seoul chapter announced a partnership with the hagwon chain ChungDahm Learning to provide more opportunities for teachers to volunteer.

In September, ChungDahm launched its Nanum ("Sharing") Campaign, a corporate responsibility program that gives its teachers the opportunity to volunteers as teachers and mentors for the Ten Children Centers, a home for underprivileged children.

Through the Nanum Campaign, the volunteers help at eight children's centers, committing one hour per week to providing English education and cultural exchange. Teachers are expected to make a three-month commitment to the volunteer activities

Bernstein, who was heading the Seoul PMA when the deal was announced, said the agreement allows members of the association that are not ChungDahm teachers to take part in the Nanum Campaign and help at Ten Children Centers.

It's nice to see progress like this being made.

Brian also looks at Kang Shin-who's latest broadside against foreign English speakers and their illegal tutoring, and proves that there is a problem by providing this statement: "No foreign tutors have been caught by the authorities for violation of the Private Education Law, the ministry said." It reminds me of a Saturday Night Live sketch years ago showing a news broadcast about a hurricane and an anchor standing next to a 'hurricane deaths' counter which reads zero, with the anchor assuring viewers that, "The number is about to shoot up any minute now!" While that may be the author's hope, a crackdown on foreign English tutors would be more likely to happen if the article were published in Korean.

Anti English Spectrum in the Donga Ilbo

Update 2:

The shorter Donga Ilbo article is translated at Korea Beat, while a few lines and some comments to the longer piece are translated at the Marmot's Hole.

Update:

Brian notes in the comments that Global Post also has a piece on Anti-English Spectrum. I hadn't noticed that they'd changed their front page and now, instead of having this as an introduction, they call themselves (in English, no less) Citizens of Right English Education. They've called themselves this (올바른 영어교육을 위한 시민모임) in Korean since late 2005, along with the 'Citizen's movement to expel illegal teachers of foreign languages,' which itself was an 'improvement' over the rather limiting name Anti-English Spectrum. I'll put up a translation of their new mission statement (which goes on about doing it all for the children and its desire to introduce good English teachers) another time.

Original Post:

The Donga Ilbo has two articles about Anti English Spectrum being in the LA Times and other papers. One is short and titled "'Stalkers' vs 'Protection of Korean Students,'" while the other is longer, features an interview with Lee Eun-ung and screenshots of articles about AES in the LA Times, Vancouver Sun, and National Post, and is titled "Is the "Movement to expel bad English teachers" stalking?" Both are written by Kim Hyeon-jin, and while she does put forward foreign teacher positions, doesn't actually interview any of them.

'I Want to Strike it Rich in Seoul Too'

The French foreign language teacher scandal of 1984

Prelude 1: The 1983 Law "Limiting Aliens' Residence Period" and banning "unqualified" foreigners from working.

Part 1: Le Monde and what came before
Part 2: Korea is "Ali Baba's" Cave
Part 3: Seoul Should not be a Workplace for Parisians
Part 4: In private foreign language classes, there are a lot of ‘fraud teachers’
Part 5: Jibberish
Part 6: 'I Want to Strike it Rich in Seoul Too' - Continuous Job Inquiries by the French
Part 7: Foreigners Enjoy Better Life With Mother Tongues
Part 8: Foreigners and Foreign Languages
Part 9: Sickening Face
Part 10: Barking Up the Wrong Tree
Part 11: The First Sanctions on Foreigners Working Illegally
Part 12: All Private Lessons by Foreigners Prohibited
Part 13: Institutes Asked to Hire Eligible Foreign Teachers
Part 14: "Seoul Wind"
Part 15: Foreign Language Teacher Shortage
Part 16: Troublemaking vagabond foreigner story finally airs

Part 6: "'I Want to Strike it Rich in Seoul Too' - Continuous Job Inquiries by the French"


I'm doing things out of order again, as part five still needs a sentence or two translated. Here is the article that appeared in the Joongang Ilbo on August 22, 1984, on page 7. The Joongang Ilbo is the paper that really pushed this story along - note that it was written by Joo Won-saeng, the Joongang Ilbo's Paris correspondent who first broke the Le Monde story in Korea. Many thanks to Song Joosub and Benjamin Wagner for help with the translation.

"'I Want to Strike it Rich in Seoul Too' - Continuous Job Inquiries by the French"

Places in Paris like the Korean Embassy have been flooded with job inquiries by French people hoping to work in Seoul after reading a recent article in Le Monde about the many French people easily making a fortune and enjoying a swanky lifestyle in Korea, which is in the midst of a French language boom.

A sociology professor working at the Pompidou Center asked a Paris Korean Cultural Center official for job placement in Korea, and five Parisians qualified to teach French language and wanting to work as French teachers in Seoul left resumes at the embassy education office.

At places like the Paris branches of Korean broadcasters and the Korea Exchange Bank, phone inquires from French people hoping to find work in Seoul were constant, and on the 20th the embassy received continuous phone inquiries from areas outside Paris such as Lyon.

Paris – Ju Won-sang, special correspondent

As I said, the Joongang Ilbo, and especially this correspondent, have really pushed this along, starting by reporting on the Le Monde ('Foreigners are making money and living a dream life in Korea language teaching, and even marry Korean women!'), then reported on the 'fraud teachers' in Korea ('They're unqualified vagabonds who are shifty and get lots of girls!'), and now on the interest (likely exaggerated to a great degree) of such vagabonds in France in coming to Korea ('We will soon be flooded with them!'), even though the article mentions that the teachers leaving resumes are actually all qualified...

Please swipe your card

Y'know... that's just plain weird.

LA Times on Anti-English Spectrum

Update:
People seem to think that this is the first picture of Yie made available:


It's not; he previously was interviewed by the Seoul Shinmun which posted a video of part of the interview with him (though I can't find the video at the moment).


Original post:

Brian has a good post about this LA Times article about Anti-English Spectrum, which tells us a bit about Yie Eun-woong and his "investigative work."

Yie, a slender 40-year-old who owns a temporary employment agency, says he is only attempting to weed out troublemakers who have no business teaching students in South Korea, or anywhere else. [...]

Yie says he has nothing against foreigners. Growing up near the city of Osan, he often rode with his taxi driver father and encountered foreigners who served at the U.S. military base there. "I learned to pick out the good guys from the bad guys," he says.[...]

The volunteer manager of a controversial group known as the Anti-English Spectrum, Yie investigates complaints by South Korean parents, often teaming up with authorities, and turns over information from his efforts for possible prosecution.

I'd always had the impression it was mostly Korean hagwon and school teachers who were leaving tips, along with jilted ex-girlfriends. I would have liked to have seen this quote expanded on:

"This has nothing to do with race. It is all about teaching," said Kim Young-Lan, a sociology professor at Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul.

Actually, I think it has a lot to do with race - and gender - seeing as photos like the one seen below led to the creation of AES in the first place.


The English Spectrum incident five years ago is something that could stand a more closer look (but I'm too busy to do it at the moment). I'd noticed that Yie's online ID 'M2' was not present when AES first formed; this seems to suggest that he joined a bit later: "In 2005, by then living in Seoul, he joined the fledgling activist group after seeing an upsetting posting on a website: claims by foreign teachers that they had slept with Korean students."

It also notes that ATEK's "[Dann] Gaymer says he doubts that such a posting ever existed." Well, it did, and it can be seen here. What's not translated are the angry comments by the foreign English teachers that saw the post (which the poster said he cut and pasted from elsewhere to test the 'no censorship' policy of the website, Korean ESL (now long gone), much as reports about Christopher Paul Neil failed to mention that at least one of the people who reported him to Interpol was a foreign English teacher in Korea.

Lillias Underwood's book "Fifteen years among the top-knots; or, Life in Korea" describes the 'baby riots' she witnessed not long after her arrival in 1888:

Some person or persons, with malicious intent, started a rumor which spread like wild-fire, that foreigners were paying wicked Koreans to steal native children, in order to cut out their hearts and eyes, to be used for medicine. This crime was imputed chiefly to the Japanese, and it was supposed the story had been originated by Chinese or others especially inimical to the large numbers of Japanese residents in the capital. Mr. Underwood acquainted the Japanese minister with the rumors, in order that he might protect himself and his people ; which he promptly did by issuing, and causing to be issued by the government, proclamations entirely clearing his countrymen of all blame in the matter, which it was left to be understood was an acknowledged fact, and consequently the work of other "vile foreigners," namely, ourselves and the Europeans.

The excitement and fury grew hourly. Large crowds of angry people congregated, scowling, muttering, and threatening. Koreans carrying their own children were attacked, beaten, and even killed, on the supposition that they were kidnapping the children of others ; and a high Korean official, who tried to protect one of these men, was pulled from his chair, and narrowly escaped with his life, although he was surrounded by a crowd of retainers and servants. It was considered unsafe for foreigners to be seen in the street. Marines were called up from Chemulpo to guard the different legations, and some Americans even packed away their most necessary clothing and valuables, preparatory to fleeing to the port. The wildest stories were told. Babies, it was said, had been eaten at the German, English, and American legations, and the hospital, of course, was considered by all the headquarters of this bloodthirsty work, for there, where medicine was manufactured and diseases treated, the babies must certainly be butchered.

These days such rumours of foreigners targeting Korean children are spread in other, more widespread and sophisticated ways:



While the baby riots of 1888 were more threatening, at least the rumours they spread didn't continue for five years... or did they?


By the way, Robert Neff tells me that he gives the baby riots thorough coverage in his new book Korea Through Western Eyes.

A Hooch Is Not a Home

That's the title of this Time Magazine article from October 16, 1964:

Every evening in Seoul they gather under the street lights for the shape-up: smartly dressed girls in spike heels and hopeful smiles. In the fading light, American soldiers cruise by to inspect the merchandise, pinching buttocks and tilting faces toward the light. The girls, who are known scornfully as "mooses," giggle timidly and plead: "Come on to my hooch."* But a hooch, as every G.I. in Korea knows, is not a home. More often than not, it is a roach-ridden room in a crumbling old house.

Last week, not for the first time since U.S. servicemen arrived in Korea 19 years ago, the Korean mooses came under fire. In a letter distributed to 12,000 Lutheran pastors throughout the U.S., the director of an American service center in Seoul denounced "the age-old dangers of women and liquor" and concluded that "our young men aren't spiritually and morally ready for Korea." The Rev. Ernst W. Karsten, a mild-mannered Iowan of 59, charged that about 90% of the G.I.s in Korea consort with prostitutes regularly. "Many men have their steadies," Karsten reported. "Some of them 'own' their girls, complete with hooch and furniture. Before leaving Korea they sell the package to a man who is just coming in."

Pillow Fees. Pastor Karsten had his facts entirely straight. Every major U.S. military installation in South Korea is ringed by villages occupied by camp followers who make their living on G.I. largesse. As one inhabitant of a "G.I. town" put it: "We benefit much from the G.I.s stationed here, but thank God they are not Christians. If they were, we would starve."

Korean mistresses—some of them pretty, college-educated girls between 17 and 25 who can find no other jobs—can be established in a hooch for about $150 a month, not counting food. Though this is more than a private's monthly pay, an enterprising G.I. can make up the difference by playing the black market. In some small towns, girls have organized to establish minimum rates. Groups like the Rose Association and the Reconstruction Association have instituted "pillow fees" ranging from $100 to $200 a month. But cash is not as important as PX privileges. Simply by reporting a readiness to get married, a G.I. can provide his moose with cigarettes, radios and cameras, all of which are resalable on the black market for several times their original cost.

Key Money. Under an arrangement known as chunse (deposit), a G.I. can occupy an entire house off base merely by depositing "key money." No rent is necessary because the Korean owner is delighted to get the working capital, which he then invests in the black market. He can double or even treble his investment in six months. The G.I. gets his "key money" back at the end of his tour by selling the hooch, complete with furniture and moose, to an incoming soldier. Prices currently range from $200 to $300.

Pastor Karsten himself admits that it is difficult for military commanders to correct the situation. General Hamilton H. Howze, commander of U.S. and United Nations forces in Korea, has pledged not to tolerate "improper conduct." He hopes to "dispel the notion that a tour in Korea represents an undesirable lost year, which can be made palatable only by hard drinking and promiscuity." Still, by U.S. Army standards, Korea is a hardship post, and it would hardly be possible to restrict all troops to barracks or declare whole cities off limits.

General Howze has launched a partially successful "Character Guidance" program since he assumed the post last year (compulsory attendance: one hour a month), and the Armed Forces Radio carries a daily half-hour program, called Date with Diana, aimed at soothing homesick G.I. hearts with music and messages from the States. More soldiers are taking out their excess energy on such projects as building orphanages for Korean waifs, teaching English in local schools and playing softball.

*Moose is a corruption of the Japanese musume (girl), while hooch derives from uchi (house).

In response to this article, James Wade, in his book One Man's Korea, wrote the following:


There were also some letters in response to the Time article in its next issue:

Sir: Granted that a Korean hooch was not a home [Oct. 16], it was the closest thing to home in contrast to the cold barracks 60 miles north of Seoul. Besides, I would take one moose any time in exchange for five U.S.O. dolls.

ALEX S. DORIAN New York City

Sir: Being an ex-G.I. who served 19 months in Korea, I had to undergo an interrogation from my wife after she read your hooch story. The Rev. Ernst W. Karsten's charge is an exaggeration.

JOSEPH A. FARRAH Daly City, Calif.

There were also other responses to this Time article, but I'll save them for another time.

Eraserhead

The Korea Herald published the third part in the series on redevelopment in Seoul here, titled "Erasing the past to build the future." That's a great title, and I've often felt that present development in Seoul seeks to have only 21st century or rebuilt Joseon-era buildings standing, with the 20th century essentially erased.

Seoul Should not be a Workplace for Parisians

The French foreign language teacher scandal of 1984

Prelude 1: The 1983 Law "Limiting Aliens' Residence Period" and banning "unqualified" foreigners from working.

Part 1: Le Monde and what came before
Part 2: Korea is "Ali Baba's" Cave
Part 3: Seoul Should not be a Workplace for Parisians
Part 4: In private foreign language classes, there are a lot of ‘fraud teachers’
Part 5: Jibberish
Part 6: 'I Want to Strike it Rich in Seoul Too' - Continuous Job Inquiries by the French
Part 7: Foreigners Enjoy Better Life With Mother Tongues
Part 8: Foreigners and Foreign Languages
Part 9: Sickening Face
Part 10: Barking Up the Wrong Tree
Part 11: The First Sanctions on Foreigners Working Illegally
Part 12: All Private Lessons by Foreigners Prohibited
Part 13: Institutes Asked to Hire Eligible Foreign Teachers
Part 14: "Seoul Wind"
Part 15: Foreign Language Teacher Shortage
Part 16: Troublemaking vagabond foreigner story finally airs

Part 3: Seoul Should not be a Workplace for Parisians


I did things out of order last time, so here is the article that appeared in the Kyunghyang Shinmun on August 16, 1984, the day after an article appeared in the Joongang Ilbo about the Le Monde article. Many thanks to Song Joosub, David Carruth and Benjamin Wagner for help with the translation.

"The French Language Boom is Regretful
Seoul Should not be a Workplace for Parisians"

According to a report on the 12th by the French daily Le Monde, young French people who once held poor jobs in their homeland are, thanks to the French Language, living comfortable lives in Seoul.

In the first example, Luc roamed about and worked various jobs in France and headed to travel in Southeast Asia, ending up in Seoul. In the summer of 1981, with a shabby suitcase and no clear purpose, he came to Korea after hearing only that there was lots of work to be found.

After less than a year he taught French language lectures at two universities. He makes 1,800,000 won a month, with each university paying him 9000 francs (about 900,000 won) a month for nine hours a week of classes. In addition, he is paid 15,000 won per student for teaching a French conversation study group for 6 hours a month.

As well, work translating English to French is a source of considerable income. The pay for one page of 1000 words is 20,000 won, and 300 page translations are not uncommon.

Luc now feels he has found a place of treasures.

The second example is 28 year old Michel, a teacher in the French countryside who came by chance to Seoul and now works as a part-time lecturer at several universities and also has high paying jobs involving French translation in government offices or large companies. He has received 10,000 francs (1,000,000 won) an hour recording French voice-overs for promotional films aimed at foreign markets.

The third example is Pierre. In France he worked in insurance in the provinces. Four years ago on a trip through Southeast Asia, he came to Seoul.

After a week here, he met a man in the street who was responsible for the French broadcasts at a certain network, and the next day was promptly offered a position correcting French program manuscripts which pays generously.

Like in a movie, after this he became an instructor at a university and married a Korean woman from a good family, and enjoys a life where on weekends he goes to the beach or Seoraksan and to Japan on vacations.

According to Le Monde, due to the 1988 Olympics in Korea, the development of the African market and the promotion of trade between France and Korea, there is a French language boom in Korea and there are many jobs available to French people in Korea at places like the French embassy or cultural center and the French language academy Alliance.

Not everyone who comes to Korea, can have such good fortune, but if one is a French person who has graduated high school it is said it is easy to find a job in Korea.

The newspaper also revealed that in Japan, short term visitors like these are tracked down and expelled, but in Korea compromise is possible.

While for Korean people it is difficult to find jobs and settle down in France, French people in Korea, due only to their language ability, are well-treated without any special knowledge or skill.

It is quite a contrast.

Paris – Gu Geon-seo special correspondent

How to drink soju

Iron Palm is a pretty silly movie, but it does have a few things of interest. It stars Kim Yun-jin (of Lost fame) as a bartender wooed by a smarmy Korean-American guy and her ex-boyfriend from Korea, who trains in Taekwondo by putting his hands into the rice in a rice cooker to toughen them, much like Hanzo the Razor (though he put a different appendage into the rice). My favorite scene is one you never see in Korean films, since it's set in America. It features the guy on the right, above, teaching the guy on the left how to drink soju:

So why do we drink Soju?
To abuse our bodies.
Why abuse it?
Because life is sad.

So we gulp it down and say to that fucking sadness, "Hey, sadness, l had a drink today, l'm ready to take you on."

Come on, try it.
Hold up the glass.

"Hey, sadness, you bastard. l'm ready for you today."

Then gather all your sad memories inside your head, pour the drink into your mouth.

And there you have it. I'd imagine the 50% alcohol version of Andong Soju would do the job best (though I prefer the taste of the 20% Andong Soju).

More on the Yongsan redevelopment

Update:
Jon Dunbar - who explored and photographed Yongsan District four two months before the January 20 incident - writes about it and posts photos here.

Original Post:

Yesterday I linked to the first Korea Herald article in a series about the redevelopment project in Yongsan which led to six deaths a year ago. The second article in the series, looking at the project more from the city's point of view, can be found here. It makes the distinction between compensation for people living in the area, and compensation for people who have businesses, with the rights of the latter having little support from the government.For example:

A spokesperson for the Seoul Housing Renewal Division who requested anonymity, said there is a related law stating that business owners should be granted compensation. It's called The Acquisition of Land, etc. for Public Works and Compensation Law. It says that compensation for displaced business owners should be determined according to profits. He also said it's up to redevelopment organizations to follow the law.

So according to this there is a law, but it's optional for developers to follow it. Golly, that's shocking.

The first article had this quote: "The walk through the redevelopment zone is unreal. Picture Seoul, circa 1951 - indiscriminate destruction." This reminded me that I took some photos of the area back at the end of May (the same day I took some of the photos in this post). Below is a satellite photo of the area. The building marked is the one where the deaths occurred, and the large block around it the area to be redeveloped. The apartments at bottom left are visible in many of the following photos.


Walking out to Hangangno from Yongsan Station, you can see the building where the standoff and fire took place that killed five protesters and a police officer:



The memorial was still there, along with riot police. It's pretty obvious Eric Drooker influence on the poster below.


Walking east from the main street next to the burnt out building:


Above you can see the green canopy at left; this is a view down that alley:


Further up the street is this home:


The same house seen looking back the way I'd come:


Continuing to walk east, these apartments dominate the skyline, and are a harbinger of the area's future shape:


Looking through the 'blanket fence' seen at far right above is this view:


The street beyond the fence seen at far left above looks like this:


This was as far east as I could go (looking northeast) before I was told to stop taking photos:


I walked back a block and climbed the stairs into this place:


Here was the view from its balcony, looking east, which gives a pretty good idea of the swath of destruction cut through the neighbourhood:


I then walked south along the street seen at bottom right above, and headed west for a block before looking north and taking this photo. The burnt out building is on the right:


Looking south from that vantage point is the former Yongsan Railway Hospital, which Robert Koehler looked at in detail here.


Of course, as Robert noted here, this historical building may also be destroyed...

A closer look at redevelopment in Yongsan

Matt Lamers has an article well worth reading in the Korea Herald about the people who were evicted in Yongsan's District 4 - where 5 protesters and a police officer died a year ago.

On a mild Nov. 4, 2008 morning, Choi says sledgehammer-wielding "gangsters" hired by construction companies showed up at her restaurant as diners sat down to brunch and smashed to pieces everything they couldn't carry away. This occurred even though the government had said she had until Nov. 28 to close shop and relocate. Her restaurant sat on land slated for redevelopment and the men, officially referred to as movers, were carrying out an eviction order issued by Seoul City.

The article looks at the redevelopment from the point of view of those who were evicted; later articles will look at things from the city's point of view.

I've looked at redevelopment in Yongsan before here and here.