All private lessons by foreigners prohibited

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 12: All Private Lessons by Foreigners Prohibited

On August 24, in the article Foreigners and Foreign Languages, the Joongang Ilbo had mentioned "pending laws and enforcement ordinances regarding private institutes," which would strengthen qualifications for teaching in institutes, but it was said that it would be difficult to verify foreigners' qualifications, and so calls were made to strengthen the requirements for private institute instructor qualifications. This followed ten days of articles about 'fraud' foreign teachers who had been washing dishes back home and now were making far too much money (and even marrying Korean women!) due to Koreans' "blind, reckless kindness." A law which made it "mandatory for anyone interested in hiring foreigners to work in Korea to select people with qualifications appropriate to the form of employment" had come into effect on July 1, but it seemed vague as to how this selection was to be made, and 18 foreigners were arrested in July and August for violating it. On September 21, the new enforcement ordinance was announced, and this article by the Joongang Ilbo, the paper which started and pushed the 'scandal' along, seems a good place to start. Thanks to Ben Wagner, Song Joosub and others for help with the translation.

The Liberalization of Private Institute Tuition

Instructor License System -
Qualification Certificates to be Issued
All Private Lessons by Foreigners Prohibited

Private institute fees are to be liberalized, qualification regulations strengthened for institute owners and instructors and those who are unqualified will not be able to teach.

The Ministry of Education and Culture revealed on the 21st that the enforcement of laws related to private institutes will begin on January 1 next year.

This enforcement order, consisting of 15 articles and 8 supplementary provisions, introduces a system for students at private institutes, bans foreigners from extracurricular teaching activities, and greatly strengthens a range of qualification standards for private tutors, while establishing transitional regulations that take into consideration and recognize the work experience of those currently engaged in such teaching.

Tuition Liberalization

Tuition fees - which are currently announced by each Education Committee, according to educational facilities, curriculum contents, terms, etc., as classified by region and curriculum – are to be fixed by institute managers under self-regulation.

However, tuition fees for university entrance examination institutes and general/high-school equivalency diploma institutes are to be decided by the Korea Educational Institute Association, and municipal/provincial education committees are to announce the standard fees according to class.

Qualifications for Instructors

Heads of institutes and instructors must receive a license/certificate from the local municipal/provincial education committee.

The [minimum] qualifications for private institute instructors are to be strengthened from graduates of at least a junior (2-year) college to those who have a certificate/license [acquired] according to educational law and who have 5 years' or more work experience in the appropriate field.

Institute owners must be university graduates or instructor’s certificate/license holders.

Accordingly, from now on, one cannot be an instructor in a non-major field. However, one can become an instructor if trained in a course of study for a designated period of time at a social educational institute, university, or the Korea Educational Institute Association.

Regulations for Numbers of Students

Private institutes can have no more than 9 students in a class at the same time, and no more than 3 students for piano lessons. Private institutes will change from the current classroom-based student limit to an area-based limit of 1.5 person per 1 square meter.

Actual area is to be from 6.6 square meters (10 persons) to 132 square meters (198 persons).

Regulations for Private Lessons

Private lessons are to be covered by the existing regulations. Lessons in general school subjects is prohibited, except for the arts, athletics, or technical studies. Also, instructors must be at least a high-school graduate in the appropriate field; or have a certificate/license [acquired] according to educational law; or have 4 years' or more experience in the appropriate field; or have completed certain courses at social educational institutes or schools designated by the Minister of Education and Culture.

From now on, foreigners cannot provide private lessons, but can be private institute instructors if they are more than junior college graduates.

Environmental Purification

According to the Additional School Law, Article 6, Clause 1, establishing a place of private instruction or a private institute in the same building as a business that hinders education or within 6 meters as measured by a straight line of such a business is prohibited.

Providing private lessons is limited to only the eup/myeon/dong area within the instructor’s residential registration jurisdiction and to 1 person, 1 subject and 1 institute, and employing instructors is prohibited.

On the same day, the Donga Ilbo had two articles about the new regulations. An article on page 11 has the sub heading "Unqualified Foreigners Cannot Tutor":

Ministry of Culture and Education announced today the legislation and amendments prepared for the enforcement ordinance concerning private institutes. [...]

Also, a provision was created to regulate unqualified foreigners who randomly enter the country. Through the rule that "Private tutors must be South Korean nationals," foreigners cannot teach private lessons and only foreigners who have graduated from at least a junior college and possess a work visa (9-11) can work at private institutes.

An article on page 10 reveals more about the visa:

There is a revision that "Foreigners must be 9-11 visa holders, who need to have at least a Junior college degree." According to immigration administration law enforcement ordinance article 9 paragraph 1 number 11, the 9-11 visa is issued to "persons wanting to work for Korean public institutions and individuals."

Also on September 21, the Kyunghyang Shinmun had two articles about the new regulations. The article on page 1 had the sub-headlines "For Foreigners, Holders of Education Research Visa Only," but contained only two sentences regarding foreigners: "For Foreigners, Only Holders of Education Research Visa are qualified to be teachers," and "Foreigners cannot teach private lessons." Its page 3 story has no sub-headlines mentioning foreigners, and the information is the same as in the Donga Ilbo.

The next day, on September 22, the Chosun Ilbo had an article on page 10 with the sub-headline "Complete Ban on Private Lessons by Foreigners"; the information in the article was the same as other papers. On page 2, however, in an article/column titled 'In a word,' reporter Lee Jung-sik asks Kim Yong-hyeon (pictured at left), who took part in amending the private institute law, about the concerns people have regarding the growing number of students enrolling in hagwons and the lack of space those students, such as jaesu students (those studying to take the university entrance exam again), have in the cramped institutes. Mr. Kim declines to answer the question and he replies instead, "Above all else, I'm happy that through these measures, foreign language conversation classes by foreign vagabonds have been blocked."

The same day the Hanguk Ilbo had an article on page 11 which gave information similar to other papers, with two sub-headlines regarding foreigners: "Notice of Enforcement, From next year foreigners should have an appropriate purpose of employment" and "Foreign Language Private Lessons Disallowed for Foreigners."

The Seoul Shinmun had an article on page 11 with the sub-headline "All Private Lessons by Foreigners Prohibited," which contained one line about foreigners: "Unqualified foreign instructors are unethical."

As we saw in the last post, a law which passed in November 1983 and came into effect in July 1984 required businesses or hagwons to "select people with qualifications appropriate to the form of employment," and hoped to cut down on the number of foreigners working in hagwons. With this new law, private lessons by foreigners (which had not specifically been mentioned by the previous law) were banned, and a specific visa was needed to teach in a hagwon. In the wake of the Le Monde article of August 12, a flurry of articles painting foreign teachers in a negative light had preceded a change in the law regarding their employment, which was now tied to a visa and required slightly stricter qualifications. It doesn't sound familiar at all, does it?

Despite this 'victory,' however, the focus on foreign teachers was not quite over, as we will see in the next post.

Korea: Hub of foreigner-only prisons

In the Korea Herald Adam Walsh takes a look at Korea's foreigner-only prison in Cheonan. It opens with a description of inmates singing along to a K-pop song "aided by a little ball that bounces from word to word on a big screen at the head of the class. The teacher motions her hand to her ear, inviting the convicts to sing louder." I wonder what the suicide rate is there.
　
I love this line:

The students are all foreign convicts at what the Ministry of Justice touts as the sole foreigner-only prison in the world.

The only foreigner-only prison in the world is in Korea? Really?

“This program’s goal is to help foreign prisoners better understand Korea and adjust to living in Korea. We hope that foreign prisoners spread the good image of Korea when they get back to their country,” [professor Jung Yoon-ja] said after the class.

Good Morning Korea is a big part of each weekday morning here. Run in collaboration with Dankuk University, instructors from the university come in to teach prisoners the Korean language and culture through song and stories.
　
Officials feel that communication is very important and focus on teaching to improve the prison’s environment. The main morning teaching point is “We are one family.”

The “We are one family” teaching sounds like a public school morals class. At any rate, the prison opened on February 23:

Long pushed by the ministry as being the proper response to rising incidences of crime committed by foreigners in Korea, Minister of Justice Lee Kwi-nam gave the opening address.
　
“The Cheonan foreigner-only prison is opened to give foreign prisoners specialized treatment. In light of the fact that foreign prisoners have different languages, customs, cultures and religions, we will give them humanitarian treatment according to universal values,” said Lee.
　
A press release sent out by the ministry after the opening highlighted the rise in crime, pointing out that since 2006, foreign crime has risen by 250 percent in Korea, though the Korean Institute of Criminology reported in 2007 that the foreigner crime rate in Korea was 1.4 percent, compared with the 3.5 percent rate among Korean citizens.

As always, figures about foreign crime put forward by the government or lawmakers never puts the figures into any kind of context. This was interesting:

Adding to the list of reasons, however, was the rationalization that if prisoners from abroad are treated better in Korea, Korean prisoners in other countries may be treated better as well.

Cullen Thomas, author of "Brother One Cell," an account of his three and a half years in Korean prisons, offers his opinion:

Thomas feels that segregating foreigners from Korean convicts is counterintuitive and causes cultural learning the prison is trying to foster to be negated by something artificial. [...] As for the programs offered at the prison, Thomas says they don’t ring true to him. He feels that most activities are just frivolities to pass the time. [...]
　
Delving further into his thoughts Thomas says that “at work are some powerful forces; national pride, not wanting to reveal the native underbelly to foreigners, wanting to treat foreigners -- even law-breaking ones -- with some privilege or at least with separate consideration, to treat them somehow -- even in prison -- as guests in Korea.
　
“During my time I often felt that the authorities, from individual guards all the way up to the justice ministry itself, didn‘t quite know what to do with us. I get the feeling that this is still the case.”

Interesting all around. There are a lot of things going on here. While on the surface, it could seem like Korea cares a great deal about its foreign population, at the same time, no one is going to be surprised that there seems to be pride that the "only foreigner-only prison in the world" is in Korea. Of course, there isn't only xenophobia at work; this also smacks of the idea that foreigners are utterly alien and in need of "specialized treatment"; of moral superiority ("we will give them humanitarian treatment according to universal values"); of missionary-esque national self-aggrandizement ("We hope that foreign prisoners spread the good image of Korea when they get back to their country"); of delusion (see previous quote); of wanting to hide the "native underbelly" of Korea from foreigners and in its stead present them with something "artificial" (again, see previous quote); and of (hoped for) quid pro quo ("if prisoners from abroad are treated better in Korea, Korean prisoners in other countries may be treated better as well").


And to top it all off, the need for foreigner-only prisons is justified by claiming that foreign crime is rising at an incredible rate, without ever putting such figures into the context of the growing foreign population or comparing it to the Korean crime rate.

50th anniversary of 419

Today was the 50th anniversary of the 1960 Student Revolution. I've looked at the events of the uprising here and here, at the official recognition of the March 1960 protests in Masan which set of the protests in Seoul, and at the uprising's aftermath, when Syngman Rhee was forced to step down, here. Photos of the uprising can be seen in this video.

For this year, there have been several photos of relatives visiting the graves of those killed when police opened fire on demonstrators that day (here and here). The Hankyoreh has a map (in Korean) of the locations where the protests in Seoul took place and the contemporary and current buildings in those locations.

The Korea Times has an article about a panel of historians and others asking why democracy was not established in the wake of the uprising, and Michael Breen has an article about Syngman Rhee and his ouster.

The president showed up to give a speech this year at the commemoration ceremony:

In his speech at a ceremony commemorating the April 19 Revolution, Lee said South Korea's politics today is stricken by "narrow and abstract ideology," that neglects people's livelihoods and the grim reality facing the nation.

"We have to reflect on ourselves again, whether we are relying on regionalism that spawns conflicts and street politics," the president said at the ceremony held at the April 19 National Cemetery in northern Seoul.

Lee said the government and political parties should not resort to populism in competing in the June 2 local elections, viewed as a mid-term election for his administration whose five-year tenure ends in early 2013.

"Moderate, pragmatic politics for reconciliation and integrity should take the center path, rather than opposition for the sake of opposition," he said.

Lee also reiterated his resolve to root out corruption among public officials, saying it is another urgent task.

Yet another inspiring speech, not so different from last year's when he criticized corruption in society during ex-president Roh's investigation.

The article also notes that "The government decorated 272 citizens, including 62 dead, for their role in the democratic movement." Better late than never?

A Little Pond playing on only a few screens

I took that photo at CGV Mok-dong on Wednesday, but was interested to find out that A Little Pond isn't playing there. In fact, it's not playing much of anywhere.

Out of 19 theatres in Seoul, only two are screening it (Bulgwang and Gangdong). Out of 19 theatres in Incheon/Gyeonggi, only four are screening it (Bupyeong, Ansan, Incheon (on two screens), and Ilsan. Out of 5 theatres in Daejeon/Chungcheong one is screening it (Dunsan), and out of 19 in Busan/Gyeongsang, four are screening it (Gimhae, Daegu, Dongnae, and Asiad) (with Chuncheon, the only theatre in Gangwon, not playing it). In total, out of 63 CGV theatres, only 11 are screening it. CGV’s site says it has only 0.6% share of reserved tickets (leaving it in 15th place for reservations).

Out of 14 Megabox theatres, it’s playing only in Coex, Daegu, Jeonju, and Haeundae.

Whether because of the subject matter, the poor reviews, or the competition (Bestseller and Clash of the Titans are dominating the box office), theaters don't seem too keen to screen it.

Exactly the same guys!

Exactly the same guys!
(Brutality, pillaging, wickedness)

I've written before (here, here and here) about A Little Pond, but seeing as it was released yesterday, I thought I'd take another look at it. First of all, here's the online flash ads that I saw awhile ago and finally took screenshots of.

The Korean War broke out 60 years ago.

The first movie about the No Gun Ri incident.

(I don't think this needs to be translated)

At long last, the tragedy of that day is exposed!

A miracle 8 year production story.

This moving picture will be made public
at lightning [천리마?] speed! [Forget what we just
said about the 8 years of production.]

I also thought it might be interesting to compare scenes from the promotional material for 'A Little Pond' and the 2004 film 'Doma Ahn Jung-geun.'

Doma Ahn Jung-geun starts off with scenes in a village as the villagers go about their lives. They are not, however, so innocent, as the village houses independence fighters. On the other hand, perhaps this is an apt comparison to No Gun Ri, (if not the movie about it) seeing as GI witnesses who were actually there said they were fired at by Koreans (most likely guerrillas) and discovered soviet rifles in the group of refugees.


Promotional materials for A Little Pond portray a similar 'innocent' beginning.


Suddenly, the the Japanese/American military come!



Innocents are stuck down (or threatened).



Bodies are strewn everywhere!



But that's not enough. Bring out the machine guns!




Mow down those women...



...and young ones too!



What is one to make of this similarity? I suppose we'll have to see if the film's message as told through its promotional material will actually entice people into theatres to see it.

Americans have been portrayed badly before in Korean films, of course. Welcome to Dongmakgol had this cheerful bastard who beats innocent villagers:


This is meant to be offset by the good foreigner.


As B.R. Myers writes in The Cleanest Race, however,

Just as foreigners can be evil, while Koreans can only do it, so it is that only the child race is inherently virtuous; foreigners can at best do only the occasional good deed.

So, yeah, Smith is a nice enough guy, but he still can't stop the bombing from happening, and the true nature of Americans is made clearer by the Korean officer who argues that the area should not be bombed due to civilians living there, but innocent civilians are of no concern to the cold-hearted American officer, who refuses to listen to him and orders the bombing to take place.


Luckily the North and South Koreans join together to attack and draw the attention of the American bombers and fighters and save the village, all while fighting atop a snow covered mountain. Perhaps worth noting is that Myers describes snow in North Korean mythology as being symbolic of racial purity. Make of that what you will.

A Little Pond has a scene (in the trailer) where an American soldier says, "These people are clearly civilians," which might seem to portray one 'good' American soldier, but could again only reinforce just how evil the Americans are - they know there are innocent people out there, and they still continue to fire into them.

Other recent films about 20th century history play out in similar ways, and begin in a manner that reminds me of what B.R. Myers described in Han Sorya and North Korean Literature as a "mythologized pre-colonial past." These films may not be pre-colonial, but they present characters who are innocent and pure, who laugh and play and run through streets and fields tra-la-la before they are helplessly swept away as history suddenly crashes into their lives like a tidal wave. This certainly applies to Splendid Vacation, Taegukgi, Welcome to Dongmakgol (in its presentation of a pure, mythologized village), The President's Barber and, it seems from the trailer and photos, will apply to A Little Pond.

Now, if I had to guess, I'd imagine A Little Pond would have been more popular back in 2006 when it finished shooting (or perhaps in 2008 during the mad cow protests), but I have doubts it will attract much attention now, especially after the negative reviews it got when it was screened for critics. I still haven't decided if I want to subject myself to it in the theater, or just download rent it later.

The First Sanctions on Foreigners Working Illegally

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 11: The First Sanctions on Foreigners Working Illegally


An August 29, 1984 Korea Times article looks at the foreigners caught working illegally during the first six months of 1984 (the article is transcribed below the scan):

During 6-Month Check, 323 Aliens Found Working Illegally

A total of 323 foreigners were found to have engaged in various kinds of jobs during the first six months this year without obtaining due employment permit from the concerned authorities, it was learned yesterday.

Sources at the Justice Ministry said most of them were either fined or admonished for their taking up occupations illegally.

According to the sources, only two of them were ordered to leave the nation.
The sources said 160 were fined up to 300,000 won and the remaining 161 were warned not to go on with their illegal profession.

The two deportees are American and British citizens. They were caught teaching at language institutions without due permit from the authorities concerned.

They came here on a tourist visa, with which they are not allowed to get jobs.

They were fined 300,000 won and 50,000 won, respectively, for their initial violation. For their repeated violations, they were deported with a ban on them not to enter the nation for the coming five years, the sources revealed.

The same sources revealed that the ministry detected 18 foreigners with illegal jobs last month. The number include four instructors at foreign language institutions, one cook, and seven employed at local business firms.

On the one hand, the fact that the two people deported were language teachers is interesting; on the other hand, it seems that after they were given a warning and fined they kept teaching anyway, making them more likely candidates for deportation. What's clear is that there was already concern about unqualified foreign language teachers (taking jobs from Koreans, as the rationale went) and a new law passed in November 1983 restricting their activities had just come into effect a month and a half before the Le Monde article was published.

On September 1, the Maeil Gyeongje reported on the foreigners uncovered by immigration working in Korea illegally over the past two months, since the new law came into effect.






The First Sanctions on Foreigners Working Illegally
18 people uncovered and fined

The Ministry of Justice revealed today that in July and August, 18 people were uncovered working illegally in Korea, such as hagwon instructors or people doing translation for small companies without proper visas like Preston (30), an American. Of these 16 were fined and two were given warnings.

Among the foreigners uncovered, four were conversation instructors at language hagwons, seven taught conversation and did translation for large companies and banks, one was a cook at a hotel, and six had been writing columns continuously for newspapers or magazines.

As well, the Justice Ministry revealed that from January to June the number of foreigners uncovered working illegally amounted to 350 in all.

Among these, around 40% were given permission to work and the rest received notices or warnings.

_______

Needless to say, more than 350 foreigners are caught working illegally in Korea today, and they certainly don't get permission to work or receive warnings.

It's curious that the Ministry of Justice showed enough interest in such a small number of foreigners being uncovered over a period of only two months to make an announcement about it, especially considering the number was so small in comparison to those discovered over the previous six months. When one realizes that most of those caught were teaching or translating, actions that had come under scrutiny in the media over the previous two weeks, another reason may present itself. That said, while it's possible the Ministry of justice was hopping on the anti-vagabond foreign teacher bandwagon, they may have just been simply reporting on the results of the new law that had come into effect on July 1 (hence the two month period the foreigners were caught in from July to August).

It still seems like a rather short period, however and so I am still rather suspicious of the timing of the announcement. At any rate, the bill that came into effect in July does not seem very punitive, judging by these reports. However, as a result of the negative media coverage of foreign language teachers in the last half of August 1984 - fallout from the Le Monde article - even more restrictions in the form of teaching visas being tied to sponsors would soon be introduced.

Commemorating Ahn Jung-geun's Death

This got lost among drafts of other posts, but the commemoration of Ahn Jung-geun's death is still worth posting about, I think (especially seeing as I'll be posting about a movie about his life in the near future).

As the Korea Herald told us on the anniversary of his death, March 26, president Lee Myung-bak pledged to find Ahn's remains:

"Today marks the 100th anniversary of Ahn's death. I will do my best as the president (of South Korea). I will seek every means to bring the remains back to South Korea in close cooperation with Japan and China, albeit belated."[...] Ahn was a "patriot who sacrificed himself for the country and its people when they suffered difficulty, and also a pioneer who advocated the peace and conciliation of the world and the East Asian region," the president said.

Above are scenes of him advocating peace and reconciliation from the 2004 film Doma An Jung-geun. The Joongang Ilbo also reported on the commemoration ceremonies:

[I]n Hyochang Park in Yongsan, central Seoul, where the Ahn family shrine is located, a Seoul-based commemorative association held a separate memorial service to pay respects to the freedom fighter.

Ten high schools in Seoul, including Paiwha Girls’ High School, organized events to honor Ahn, such as hand printing, reading his writings and writing letters in his memory.

At Cheonggye Plaza in Seoul was an exhibition of 25 photos depicting Ahn’s history, including pictures of the gun and bullets Ahn used to assassinate the first resident-general of Korea, Hirobumi Ito. [Emphasis added]

Well, as long as they're only advocating "peace and conciliation" and not commemorating assassination, all's well. There was also

a memorial ceremony for Ahn at Luishun prison in the port city of Dalian, northeast China, where he was executed. It was the first ceremony to be held by Korean visitors with the authorization of the Chinese government.

The Grand National Party placed a large portrait of Ahn and placard saying “I am the son of the Republic of Korea” in Korean outside the party’s headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul.

Democratic Party Chairman Chung Sye-kyun said during the party’s Supreme Council meeting that Ahn’s passion for independence must be respected and honored.

I like the fact both parties are trying to outdo each other in being politically correct. Can you imagine some politician ever questioning the deification of Ahn? Speaking of deities, this article was interesting:

Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk, South Korea's highest-ranking catholic priest, created controversy with his remark that seemingly supported the Catholic church's posture 100 years ago in its ambiguous relationship with Ahn Jung-geun[.]

In his sermon this week, which marks the 100th anniversary of Ahn's patriotic act, Cheong said the church's decision 'to suspend the priesthood of a Western priest for three months for his sympathetic involvement in Ahn's final days before the latter's execution was a "best decision" to protect the priest, Hankyoreh said.

The article may be mistaken in saying that this week is "the 100th anniversary of Ahn's patriotic act," unless dangling from a noose is a 'patriotic act'. At any rate, if not a deity, he has become a general, at least; here we see "documents related to independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun at the “General Ahn Jung-geun Room” at the Army headquarters of Gyeryongdae, South Chungcheong Province[.]"

The Chosun Ilbo and Donga Ilbo also have articles about new documents discovered about his final days, as well as questions about the location of his body. The Korea Herald also has an interview with his granddaughter:

President Lee Myung-bak ordered his government Monday to work with China and Japan on the stalled project. Ahn also requested help from the two governments.

"I'm sure that Japan and China also feel the way we do about the project and that it would put all our hearts and minds to rest if his remains were found," she said.

I doubt very much Japan feels the same way about the project.

The Herald also had an article about attempts to retrieve the sword that killed Empress Myeongseong (which can be seen here (via Korea Beat)):

A committee will be launched today in order to retrieve "Hizendo," the sword used to kill Empress Myeongseong, Korea's last empress, from Japan, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of patriot Ahn Jung-geun's death. [...]

The sword, originally made in the 16th century, had reportedly been used by Katsuaki To, one of the three attackers who killed the Korean empress in 1895. He later donated the sword to the Kushida Shrine [in Fukuoka].

The organizing members of the committee said the sword should be either returned to Korea or destroyed because it symbolizes the tragic development between Korea and Japan.

I can only imagine the response if Japan demanded that a hundreds-of-years-old Korean artifact be given to them or destroyed. I'm sure that final sentence should really help move things along.

Foreigners and Foreign Languages

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 8: Foreigners and Foreign Languages


On August 24, 1984, after first bringing the scandal of French foreign teachers living the easy life as language teachers to the public's attention, expanding it into a look at 'fraud' teachers, and painting a picture of a Korea about to be deluged by unqualified young French men, the Joongang Ilbo decided to look at the problems such unqualified teachers cause for English education in Korea, and for the first time linked the issue to pending laws and ordinances regarding private institutes and private lesson teaching.

Many thanks to Kim So-eun for transcribing the Hanja.

Foreigners and Foreign Languages

A foreign news article about the red carpet treatment and, of course, good luck that has sometimes come the way of vagabond travelers from abroad because they teach speaking in Korea has directly confirmed that [these people] are perversely leaving foreign countries [to come take advantage of] our foreign language study boom.

The fundamental purpose of foreign language study is to acquire advanced learning and help the overseas expansion of our citizens. Therefore the most important thing is to procure qualified teachers and instructors for these schools and private institutes which serve this purpose.

Based on pending laws and enforcement ordinances regarding private institutes, to qualify to be a private institute instructor one will have to be at least a junior college graduate or its equivalent. However, regarding foreigners this method of verifying academic background is vague and this enforcement ordinance is not particularly effective.

Especially, regarding cases of foreigners who have recently come to Korea to ride our country’s foreign language boom and work as teachers, there are naturally many doubts as to how suitable these people are, about their standard of refinement and of course their language education skill.

These vagabond foreigners live without doing anything in particular in their home countries and only need to raise just enough money for a plane ticket. They first enter the country and then through foreign language lessons they make the money needed for room, board, and traveling. A Le Monde article eloquently revealed the facts of how some Parisians regard as Korea as a gold mine.

The true educational effect of foreign language learning is that when learning to speak and write a foreign country’s language, to some degree one learns its culture and ‘spirit’ as well. Attaching importance to conversation, [learners] can’t distinguish a teacher’s or instructor’s standard of refinement and mistake them for nothing but a 'tape recorder.' Ultimately there’s a worry that when learning conversation students will imitate that country’s vulgar culture, vulgar living language, and vulgar values. Educational methods are also a problem.

In addition, in language learning, continuous dialogue, repetition, and correction is required, and the applicable traditional grammar of the language should be also be received from the teacher. Of course, one can’t believe that foreign travelers have completely mastered these teaching methods. There is also a concern that these days incorrect foreign speaking is being learned.

There’s a risk when private institutes, corporations and some households [consider] any foreigner with different-colored skin or eyes to be good, and we are seeing that this reckless learning fever is actually having a negative effect on foreign language education.

Also, for this reason it could come to pass that our citizens' image of their level of culture will fall and will offset the effectiveness of gaining foreign language learning.

The first thing the authorities need to do is strengthen the requirements for private institute instructor qualifications. In March, a number of foreign language institutes which had hired unqualified instructors were closed by administrative measures. If needed, the law should be amended to end the hiring of instructors who don't meet a set level of knowledge/refinement and who haven't mastered teaching methods.

In addition, to be of help to those citizens who aspire to learning a foreign language by studying accurate foreign speaking and writing under a qualified teacher, we should bear in mind that learning foreign languages from vagabond foreigners is actually inefficient and not even effective.

You might notice some familiar themes in that piece, such as "These vagabond foreigners live without doing anything in particular in their home countries," "there are naturally many doubts about how suitable these people are," the belief that "any foreigner with different-colored skin or eyes is good," "conversation students will imitate that country’s vulgar culture, vulgar living language, and vulgar values," and of course, "regarding foreigners this method of verifying academic background is vague" and "authorities need to do is strengthen the requirements for private institute instructor qualifications."

These themes have in fact reappeared in articles from the past two weeks, such as this, this, this, and this. While much has changed in Korea over the last twenty-six years, it's apparent some things haven't.

Will Choi Young-hee's bills be passed?

On March 25 Financial News published this article by Choi Gyeong-hwan:

[A bill to] Insert a mandatory drug test for foreign teachers into the ‘Child Education Law’ has been dormant for ten months

During [the reaction to] the case of an American gang member working as a native speaking teacher who was arrested for drug crimes, it became known that a bill which would require foreign teachers to take drug tests has been sitting dormant in the National Assembly for almost ten months.

The Democratic Party Representative Choi Young-hee, member of the National Assembly Committee for Health, Welfare and Family, revealed on March 25 that “Had the ‘Child Education Law Revised Bill’ which I sponsored on June 9 last year been passed, the employment of problem native speaker teachers could have been prevented.” Rep. Choi’s bill to revise the child education law would require foreign teachers wanting to work at kindergartens, elementary or secondary schools, or hagwons to submit a Korean criminal record check and within one month of arrival, health check results including drug and marijuana tests.

However, this bill has been moored in the National Assembly and has made no progress for almost ten months. At present, drug crimes and sex crimes against children by native speaking teachers in Korea are on the increase. In a situation where there are no rules for verification, cases where English teachers who are not charged by police find a new job at a different school or hagwon [can occur].

Rep. Choi said, “Recently, demand for foreign teachers has been rapidly increasing due to things like English immersion policy, but verification and administrative measures to deal with them are non-existent.” “These bills should be passed at an extraordinary session of the National Assembly in April in order to provide a more secure learning environment for children and teens.”

It's worth noting that this bill was also mentioned at the end of this recent article:

Presently a revised bill proposing changes to the Kindergarten Education Law, Elementary and Secondary Education Law, and the Hagwon Education Law which requires native English teachers wanting to work in Korea to provide criminal records, a medical examination including drug screening, and academic background certificates has been submitted in the National Assembly, but the standing committee deliberations have not even been set up.

In order that we can believe in and entrust our children [to hagwons?] the National Assembly should promptly discuss this revision of related laws.

The revised bills referred to at the end of the article are of course Choi Young-hee's bills which were introduced in the national assembly on June 9 of last year, and are translated here.

I like the neutral way in which the article is introduced: "[I]t became known that [this] bill ... has been sitting dormant in the National Assembly for almost ten months." Not "The person sponsoring the bill has jumped on this recent case to draw attention to it." The article mentions that

At present, drug crimes and sex crimes against children by native speaking teachers in Korea are on the increase. In a situation where there are no rules for verification, cases where English teachers who are not charged by police find a new job at a different school or hagwon [can occur].

If you look at the bills themselves, you'll see that the statements above are essentially taken from the bills' purpose statements. What I don't understand is how a criminal record check for crimes committed in Korea will turn up anything if the teachers "are not charged by police" in the first place. As for those statement that "drug crimes and sex crimes against children by native speaking teachers in Korea are on the increase," the bill itself says only that "the crime rate among native English teachers is getting higher"; nothing specific about drug or sex crimes is mentioned. It may be worth mentioning that Rep. Lee Gun-hyeon's statistics regarding crimes by foreign teachers actually shows the crime rate to be dropping, but niggling things like 'facts' have little place in this discussion.

Rep. Choi said, “Recently, demand for foreign teachers has been rapidly increasing due to things like English immersion policy, but verification and administrative measures to deal with them are non-existent.” [Emphasis added]

Odd. I do tend to remember the criminal record checks, notarized copies of said checks and diploma stamped by the embassy in my home country and sealed transcripts existing, and I know the health check occurred since I took photos of it:


There have been other suggestions as to how verification and administration of foreign teachers might be carried (see suggestion 4 here), but Rep. Choi's bills have nothing new to offer; in the end, the bills are practically calling for the status quo with a marijuana test and Korean criminal test added (though no AIDS tests). Nothing earth-shatteringly different there. It might be worth remembering what Benjamin Wagner wrote about his inquiries with Rep. Choi's office:

I pressed for stats for the statements "At the same time, however, the crime rate among native English teachers is getting higher,” and "Furthermore, there are native English speakers who have committed crimes in Korea and expelled from Korea for those crimes, yet these native English speakers are being rehired as English teacher in Korea a few years after their expulsion from the country."

Sadly, they don't have them. The aide mentioned some police reports of crimes they had received in regards to first statement, but just of crimes, not of an increase. For the second quote I was told they'd seen a newspaper story (no I'm not kidding). He didn't remember the title or where they saw it.

While on the one hand, it's nice to see someone actually going about making a group of foreigners submit to drug and AIDS tests in a transparent (and legal) way in the national assembly (as opposed to simply passing around a policy memo), but it's pretty ridiculous that the rationale behind submitting this bill has no facts whatsoever to back up the assertions being made. There's nothing to prove the foreign teacher crime rate is rising, and for the statement that "native English speakers are being rehired as English teacher in Korea a few years after their expulsion from the country," they have nothing to support this other than a vague "I read about it somewhere." And let's not forget how Rep. Choi announced that the Ministry of Justice had 'lost' 22,202 foreign English teachers because she'd used the wrong statistics (and of course never offered a retraction when this was pointed out to her).

This statement is interesting:

“Had the ‘Child Education Law Revised Bill’ which I sponsored on June 9 last year been passed, the employment of problem native speaker teachers could have been prevented.”

The problem is that these most recent cases have involved Korean Americans on F-4 visas (yes, others were arrested, possibly E-2 visa-holders, but they were footnotes in articles about the Korean Americans), but according to statements made by an aide of Rep. Choi's to Benjamin Wagner months ago, these bills will affect only E-2 visa holders - despite the fact that the inclusive term “native English teachers” (원어민교사) and not specifically "E-2 visa holders," is used in the bills. I wrote months ago that "those on other visas might wish the bill to be a little more specific in its language," and I wonder if "native English teachers" will be interpreted in a more broad fashion to include those on other visas after these most recent incidents. I'm not sure what's worse - re-interpreting the language in the bills to including F-4 visa-holders, or not including them and using crimes by F-4s to justify stricter laws against E-2 visa-holders. Both of those options are rather sneaky, if unsurprising.

Of course, we have to remember the reason this is being done:

“These bills should be passed at an extraordinary session of the National Assembly in April in order to provide a more secure learning environment for children and teens.”

We have to protect the children. Now, to be fair, Rep. Choi has criticized Korean teachers as well, and at the same time the three bills were introduced regarding foreign English teachers, she also introduced 5 bills aimed at Korean teachers. For example, in the wake of the Na-yeong incident, while some other national assembly representatives were saying that out of foreigners in general, "native speaking teachers are especially potential child molesters," Rep. Choi was pointing the finger at Korean teachers who had committed sex crimes but who had mostly not been punished for it (in Korean here):

A total of 124 sexual crimes involving elementary and secondary school teachers were reported to the education authorities between 2006 and 2009. Among them, 47 involved prostitution, 43 were sexual harassment and five were rape cases.

However, only eight teachers (6 percent) were given prison sentences, while 31 were not indicted and 28 received suspended sentences.

Interesting that such figures are marshaled to provide a basis for criticizing Korean teachers in nothing more than a press release, but nothing specific is needed when submitting bills in the national assembly calling for expanded monitoring and testing for foreign English teachers.

Commentary on "Sickening Face"

I just posted this at the bottom of yesterday's "Sickening Face" post, but decided to make it a separate post as well.
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We've seen the portrayal of the 'shiftless vagabond from France who teaches language and lives well in Korea' evolve in the August 21 Donga Ilbo article "Jibberish" and in "Sickening Face." As 'Jibberish' told us, "There was one penniless “French” young man. He was from “Lyon”. There he was a restaurant delivery boy." Note that the Le Monde article makes no mention of Lyon or restaurant delivery boys - these were made up by the Donga Ilbo. That article also mentions that this "French" young man came to Korea with only a "shabby suitcase" and that he "married a respectable Korean woman," which combines the stories of Luc and Pierre as told in Le Monde.

Now, in "Sickening Face," we're told of "A Parisian dishwasher living in Lyon [who] ended up flying to Korea." Lyon appears again, but this time the "French" young man is a dishwasher instead of a restaurant delivery boy. The intent is the same - to portray him as lowly as possible so that he is seen as being unworthy of marriage to a "maiden from a distinguished rich family." It also relies on the "Korea treats these foreigners too well" theme, as well as the "lucky foreign bastard" theme in portraying him as having a leg up because of his "exotic outward charm" and his mother tongue and also describing this marriage as having "made him a rich man overnight" - a theme seen in these well-known anti-English teacher comics (click on the first result). It also mentions that "Other Parisian dishwashers, shoe shiners, and car washers are calling en masse the Korean embassy in France," an obvious reference to this Joongang Ilbo article. The only problem is that the examples given in that article were of people who were all qualified to teach. At any rate, the reader should fear that more nice, rich girls are going to marry the 'French wave" of dishwashers, shoe shiners, and car washers about to wash over the peninsula.

As for how the writer feels about this, one need only look at the way the article moves from the story of the marriage between a foreign dishwasher to an adulterous couple, to "sickening" examples of hermaphrodites, fish species where the males parasitize females, " sexually-reproducing, impudent vertebrates," talk of anuses in strange places and wicked servants. It's interesting, however, that the last example he mentions is of "ask[ing] questions of sheep in wolf’s clothing." Since they are sheep, they aren't as dangerous as they're made out to be, and can be dealt with, something a Joongang Ilbo editorial had called for the day before "Sickening Face" was published, and the next translation to be posted in this series.

'Sickening Face'

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 9: 'Sickening Face'

The name of this August 25, 1984 Kyunghyang Shinmun article, from a column titled 'Our Language', is 뇌꼴스런 얼굴, or "sickening/ detestable/ loathsome face," and suggests how this term can be used. For simplicity I've chosen "Sickening Face." One wonders what its writer, reporter Oh Dong-hwan, was on when he wrote it. Many thanks to Song Joosub, Ben Wagner, and others for the great deal of help that was needed to translate this.

Also, I just noticed now what the picture in the article is of: two people - one of them a big-nosed man - kissing.


Much like the article, it's pretty bizarre.

Sickening Face

A disgusting and sour expression that itches

A Parisian dishwasher living in Lyon ended up flying to Korea. Because he was a French person who spoke French well, he was invited to work as a hagwon instructor.

A maiden from a distinguished rich family enamored with the foreigner’s exotic outward charm married the Parisian dishwasher, and this made him a rich man overnight.

Indeed such a thing was reported in a Le Monde article a few days ago. Other Parisian dishwashers, shoe shiners, and car washers are calling en masse the Korean embassy in France. In the end, Parisians are flocking like a cloud [to Korea].

The face of the maiden from a distinguished rich family, though being a person who does not know to write even a simple letter to her home country, performing the “act of marriage” whispering in French, is a “sickening face.” A few days ago there was a case of adultery. Looking at them, the laughing face of a person who can’t laugh is also a “sickening face.” Only a hermaphrodite could laugh confidently, perhaps.

Take the case of animals. [Only] when looking at how a male Atlantic football fish parasitizes a female, or when asexually-reproducing hermaphroditic species such as earthworms, sea sponges, and snails look at sexually-reproducing, impudent vertebrates is laughing possible.

What about a sea urchin? Because of its chestnut-shaped burs which make it impossible to 'toast' or copulate, the male discharges his spermatozoa in the water and try to dock them with the female’s eggs. A sea urchin would laugh when imagining those adulterous man and woman. But sea urchins have a mouth on the bottom and an anus on top. This makes one convulse with laughter. However, if there were an anus on the back of the head, where its mouth is located, it would be terribly funny.

Consider a starfish. Even though it has an anus, it rarely uses it. It would just laugh while it digests in its mouth food that could pass through its anus. Such laughter is “a sickening face” – like that of the rightly ridiculed man who ridicules in response.

The impudent face of a powerful man’s wicked servant is a “sickening face.” The face of a person skillful in using another's authority is a “sickening face.” A face that asks questions of a sheep in wolf’s clothing is also such a face. To use a popular phrase: “It's hot.”

We've seen the portrayal of the 'shiftless vagabond from France who teaches language and lives well in Korea' evolve in the August 21 Donga Ilbo article "Jibberish" and in "Sickening Face." As 'Jibberish' told us, "There was one penniless “French” young man. He was from “Lyon”. There he was a restaurant delivery boy." Note that the Le Monde article makes no mention of Lyon or restaurant delivery boys - these were made up by the Donga Ilbo. That article also mentions that this "French" young man came to Korea with only a "shabby suitcase" and that he "married a respectable Korean woman," which combines the stories of Luc and Pierre as told in Le Monde.

Now, in "Sickening Face," we're told of "A Parisian dishwasher living in Lyon [who] ended up flying to Korea." Lyon appears again, but this time the "French" young man is a dishwasher instead of a restaurant delivery boy. The intent is the same - to portray him as lowly as possible so that he is seen as being unworthy of marriage to a "maiden from a distinguished rich family." It also relies on the "Korea treats these foreigners too well" theme, as well as the "lucky foreign bastard" theme in portraying him as having a leg up because of his "exotic outward charm" and his mother tongue and also describing this marriage as having "made him a rich man overnight" - a theme seen in these well-known anti-English teacher comics (click on the first result). It also mentions that "Other Parisian dishwashers, shoe shiners, and car washers are calling en masse the Korean embassy in France," an obvious reference to this Joongang Ilbo article. The only problem is that the examples given in that article were of people who were all qualified to teach. At any rate, the reader should fear that more nice, rich girls are going to marry the 'French wave" of dishwashers, shoe shiners, and car washers about to wash over the peninsula.

As for how the writer feels about this, one need only look at the way the article moves from the story of the marriage between a foreign dishwasher to an adulterous couple, to "sickening" examples of hermaphrodites, fish species where the males parasitize females, " sexually-reproducing, impudent vertebrates," talk of anuses in strange places and wicked servants. It's interesting, however, that the last example he mentions is of "ask[ing] questions of sheep in wolf’s clothing." Since they are sheep, they aren't as dangerous as they're made out to be, and can be dealt with, something a Joongang Ilbo editorial had called for the day before "Sickening Face" was published, and the next translation to be posted in this series.