Racist Sports Chosun

Blasted this stupid and simply racist piece on the Sports Chosun, written by Kim Yun-hee. Are we still trying to dredge up "English Spectrum-gate"? And even that journalistically flimsy "AIDS scandal" that is little more than rumor and hearsay?

My point in the email to her – in which I call her paper, her person, and her piece "racist" and ask her if writing garbage like this was her goal in life when studying for the university entrance exam and graduating from college – emphasized the fact that totally warped and wacky coverage of foreigners is skyrocketing, even as, compared to a decade or any time before, the quality of English teachers is not only not that bad, but better than ever.

The way I see it, the overall numbers have risen, which brings about a rise in regrettable and sometimes just plain stoopid incidents, but trust me: you should have seen the quality of a hagwon instructor in 1994, or an EPIK English teacher in the first year of that program in 1995, or any teacher hired directly by provincial school boards in the late 1990's.

As I've said in previous posts, I actually wrote a letter to the Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI), which was making policy and running programs for the Ministry of Education at the time, illustrating how dire I thought the situation was in the hagwons, but especially the schools. Of course, ignored, and silly policies went forward, many of which have led us to some of the problems in the system today.

In any case, another thing I told Ms. Kim was that words have an effect, and that it would have been not only unethical and racist to have talked about "Beware Yellow Killer Koreans Who Tote Guns " after say, the LA Riots or the Cho Seung-hee incident, but dangerous as well.

And considering all the shit many guys, including myself, have to put up with these days (which I never, ever felt back in 1994, when I was far more culturally, linguistically, and historically ignorant about Korea), words do have an effect. They do result in changing patterns of behavior, especially when the pattern of negative representation is so vicious and uniform.

I wish I could be that clear in my Korean, but I did my best. And I said some other choice things in there, such as being very melodramatic about what a bad name stuff like this makes for Korea, how words like this do far more harm than any "Korea, Sparkling" or World Cup campaign ever did for Korea, and how I hoped she knew that words like this lead to the behavior that keeps me from riding the subway. Guilt. Love it. And she should feel guilty, I think.

More than anything, I want her to know we waeguks are watching the media, reading it, and translating it for others. More accountability can only lead to more responsibility, I say.

I should have proofread more before hitting the "send" button (as is always my weakness), but I'm locked in to putting up the actual words I sent over to her desk.

인종차별주의자적인 한국.

인종차별주의자 김윤희.

이런 식으로 일부러 자기 독자들의 주의만 받으려고하는 행동은 정말 나쁜 비도덕적인 짓이다.

물론 이상한 사람들이 있겠지만 도대체 왜 메세지보드의 이상한 글, 아니면 바보같은 어떤 외국인의 올린 유투브 비디오가 전국 뉴스입니까? 그리고 잉글리쉬스페크트럼은 오래 된 뉴스이고 그리고 그 글은 - 이상한 글이지만 - 대표적인 글도아니고 그렇게 바보처럼 글을 올린 건 불법도아닙니다.

꼭 '백인'이나 '흑인'이란 단어를 강조해야 됩니까? 뭐 미국에서는 LA 폭동할 때도, 초승희의 사건 일어날 때도 그런 '노랑이 한국인들 조심해라' 그런 말을 쓰면 좋았을까요?

그리고 그런 말은 파워가 있습니다. 이런 예외 케이스만 보도하고, 인종차별주의적인 표현만 쓰고 요즘에 외국이으로써 길에서 다니면 위험해졌습니다. 전 미국의 플브라이트이란 장학기급을 타고 한국에 1994년도에 처음에 왔는데 사실 그때 외국인 강사들이 진짜 무서울정도로 이상한 사람들이 쾌 많았습니다. 대학원 갔가오고 다시 2002년도에 한국에와서, 오노, 여중생, 홍대의 클럽 사진 '사건'들이 일어난 후에 정말 정말로 변해졌습니다.

하도 욕을 먹어서 더이상 지하철 안탑니다. 타자마자 술취한 아저씨나 이런바 '애국자' 대학생이 바로 모욕을 시작하기 때문입니다. 그리고 한국여자랑 - 와이프이라도 - 1호선 타면은 싸움이 이러날가봐 (자기 여친 아니면 그냥 친구가 '똥갈보'나 '미국년'이나 '백마 타는 년'이란 욕을 듣고 내가 그 사람을 때리고 다음 날에 '흑인 외국인 강사 지하철 폭행'이란 스트리 나올가봐) 아예 서울에서는 지하철 안탑니다.

김윤희씨는 아주 좋은 일하고 있다고 생각하십니까? 자랑스럽습니다? 이런 일을 하는 건 열심히 수능시험보고 대학교 졸업하고 본인의 목적이었습니까?

아미리 해도 김윤희같은 기자들 때문에 많은 외국인들이 많은 안좋은 경험을 당하고 계속 이런 이상한 기사들을 읽고 자기 일을 끝나고 한국한테 욕을 하면서 자기 나라로 갑니다. 그리고 저도 한국말, 한국학, 한국역사를 깊은 관심이 있었는데 너무 지겹습니다. 저같은 '외국놈'들이 많이 참을 수 있는데 한국에서 열심히 좋은 짓을 해도 소용옶다고 생각을 들 수 밖에 없습니다.

한국은 "Korea, Sparkling"하고 월드컵할 때 나라를 위한 홍보가 나라한테 더 큰 효과일까? 아니면 대부분 욕을 먹고 한국을 미워하게 된 외국인들이 자기 나라에 가서 하는 말이 더 큰 효과인가요?

일단 이런 기사를 읽고 저도 생각하는데: '진짜 난 바보다. 한국에 왜 왔을까? 내 시간을 다 낭비한 거다.'

전 그런 생각을 처음 든 사람도 아닙니다. 요새는 2,3년이상 참을 수 있는 외국인들이 옛날처럼 많지 않습니다. 개인적으로도 핸국을 사랑했지만 제 친한 친구한테는 솔직히 한국을 추천할 수 없겠습니다. 찰리 일본이나 중국에 가라고 할 수 밖에 없습니다. 그리고 전 한국을 사랑하는 케이스입니다. 한국을 100% 싫어하게 된 경우는 자기 친구한테 뭐라고 할까요?

이 편지를 읽고 본인이 아마도 '싫다면, 자기 나라로 가라, 새끼야!' 생각하겠습니다. 걱정마세요. 빨리 가려고 합니다.

I hope she has a very nice day. Drop her a line (and be respectful and don't be the very stereotype that we are trying to counter) and make it clear that words have consequences, and that we're reading them, too.

Comments

[MigukNamja]

Michael,

Thanks much for spending this much quality time on this issue. For the team, yo.

-David

[The Marmot]

(and be respectful and don't be the very stereotype that we are trying to counter)

Respectful, like in addressing said journalist as 인종차별주의자 김윤희? :)

Good on you for writing the letter --- beats sitting around and bitching --- but just to confirm, you do know that's an old piece, right? More specifically, from May 27?

[Jerry]

Hey Michael,
would you mind translating the letter you wrote to Kim Youn Hee.

thanks..

big fan of your blog

[gary]

my god your korean is pathetic, i havent winced so hard since watching 미녀들이 수다

no wonder you are ignored as just another ignorant, bumbling foreigner.

For a black man you make a lot of white noise.

Please keep your mouth shut until you you learn more about this couinty and how to assimilate, and save the rest of us this kind of embarrasment
Sad sack indeed.

and for those that disagree with me, dont follow this guy;s example, but please study Korean and learn how the place works before shooting your mouth off.

Michael go home please.

[andrew]

Wow gary...wow.

I'm a korean-american and I definitely think Michael has great views. Are they inherently biased? Well, duh! It's a western perspective after all. But a western perspective also allows unique criticism. After all, isn't the great contribution of Western philosophy the concepts of democracy, meritocracy and egalitarian, secular societies, developed by the ancient Greeks and established by the Enlightenment? He obviously does appreciate Korea (b/c he lives there!), but when confronted with an impingement upon rights, I think he's allowed (especially as an anthropologist academic) to assess Korean society.

Many Koreans establish a precedent by bringing up race and gender in everything: the workplace, education, etc. Therefore, like a court of law, they open themselves up to being critiqued about these very same issues. But everything he's written in his blog about nationalism and racism is pretty much true. I can't confirm what it's like for a "white" or "black" foreigner, but I find myself saying, "yep, that's so true!" whenever I read certain things.

For instance, I always (ALWAYS!) get asked by koreans I meet, "you smoke pot, right? All americans shoot big guns?" Can you blame this on simply not knowing any better? Or never being to America? Maybe. But I've never been to the Middle East and I don't think they are terrorists. I always ask them, "haven't you experienced enough of life to know that you can't make generalizations about anything, be it people or places?"

Here's another: many koreans who have never left Asia are so afraid of black people. Do some black people commit crime? Yes, but most do not! And white, asian, brazilian, finish and luxembourgian people do too. geesh.

I went out on friday night with 8 koreans the weekend of the VT shooting. They didn't want to go b/c they thought americans would beat them up. I was so surprised b/c many of them have lived here for several years. When asked, their reasons were they knew what the response in korea would've been like, and they feared that in the US. If an english teacher shot his students in korea...jeez, I can't even imagine...

I always say to myself: Korea is modern. But it will never become a post-modern society that is consistently relevant on a global scale until it confronts these medieval attitudes. It desperately needs both a sexual revolution and civil rights movement. Now, there really aren't enough minorities to provide the impetus for a civil rights movement (and we all know the majority in power never initiates a movement for the minority, in any society in history). But there can definitely be a gender equality movement, which I do think is occurring steadily. After all, women can now actually keep their own children after divorce (even though child support is still not required). That seems like a given thing for westerners, but that's a big step for korea: actually giving women power over men in something.

Crap...I have no idea what I've been writing. In conclusion: Michael is cool. (please do more podcasts!)

[The Metropolitician]

My Korean is "pathetic?" Well, Gary, let's see how big your dick is, since you're comparing.

No matter how "good" or "bad" my Korean is – written in a single rush of anger that it was – that's not some objective marker of how "much" we know about "Korea" or how qualified one is to know its history, society, and the particular thing that lies within one's field of specific concerns.

Frankly, Gary, more than anything, your critique of me was the truly pathetic thing. Engage me in my argument, not some sophomoric assessment of what Korean level I would fit into at the language school. I stopped worrying about what others thought about my Korean about the same time I started making progress in the language, which I look at as a lifelong process. I'm always trying to speak, read, and write as much as possible in the language, and it always improves. And forcing myself to write a letter to that dumbass reporter is part of the process of self-improvement, done to improve myself, as well as to do more than bitch and moan about this shit, and say my piece to the people whom I think should hear it.

Sounds like you, Gary, are the worst of the worst – just a playa-hating blog troll who just bitches and moans about those bitching and moaning; at least I'm one step removed from your particular level of lameness.

You've got a lot of nerve telling people to "shut up" – how about you just fuck off?

Thanks.

[kole]

Love the blog, but can you translate the piece that has you upset. Or give a synopsis of the article. I agree with gary. No, No, No, just kidding. But seriously more podcasts!

[Mark]

I think we should fix up Yun-Hee with KJY for a match made in heaven....

[J.J Hunsecker]

I think Metro was right to take offense at "Gary's" comment. It was said not to debate the points that Metro wished to address but merely to denigrate and agitate him.

That being said, however, I can't say that I completely fault "Gary". Of the many posts and podcasts of Metro's that I've had the pleasure of reading and listening to, one of the recurring points that he consistently brings up during arguments is how proficient in Korean he is. Its one thing to make light of this casually during the course of an essay or a debate. I would even go so far as to say that I have no qualms if an individual wishes to boast about his accomplishments(after all, it's always nice to know that not all Americans are complete linguistic parochials). With Metro, however, it's not merely the above mentioned but something else as well. In consistently mentioning his fluency in Korean he seems to be asserting a certain elite privilege to comment on Korean affairs.

Now, in saying all this I'm in no way saying that knowledge of the native language of a culture one is studying to be superflous. If I had to give an opinion I would say fluency is something extraordinarily useful; not indispensable, however. The problem I think that Metro makes is that he conflates knowledge of a language with actual insight and wisdom. I'm of the belief that experience and the wisdom that one accrues from such experiences is what is actually indispensable in analyzing and making judgements about foreign societies. Take my father for instance. He immigrated to America from Korea over 25 years ago. At best he speaks English haltingly. That being the case, I would still take his judgements about American society over some Ivy-League, fluent English-speaking yoohaksaeng any day of the week. In fact, I don't see why Metro simply doesn't just only iterate the fact that he has lived in Korea for a number of years and has extensive experience in country and then claim his elite privilege that way. I personally believe that to be a more unassailable position than claiming knowledge of Korean.

You see, if one is going to toot their horn about how their knowledge of a language gives them a unique insight into a society and then assert the correctness and rightness of that argument based on that fluency, then attacking said fluency is, justly or unjustly, fair game.

[James Turnbull]

I'm sure your father is an intelligent person, but I'd doubt you'd find anyone else who would value his judgements of American society more highly than a fluent exchange student, providing the latter was actually interested in and actively learning about the subject of course.

Speaking from personal experience, until my Korean started improving I had very outdated opinions about Korea because they were all based on books written in English. Once I was able to listen to the radio for instance, albeit only understanding about 1 in 5 of the reports and interviews I heard, I was simply blown away by how wrong my perceptions of Korea had been - Korea is a very fast changing society (which is what makes it so interesting) and it had moved on a LOT since the books I'd read about it were written.

I also have one of Michael's podcasts to thank for realising that if you can't speak the language of your host country, then you tend to generalise the local population's opinions and habits as this or that, without realising that there is a great deal of disagreement and debate about them - in particular, what feature of your home country that you complain about, then the locals probably do too and are working to fix it, which isn't as easy as you look. Without that language ability, you just have no awareness of this, and so it's easy to just think the locals are..well...stupid! My Korean still has a looong way to go for sure, but I'm learning a great deal more about Korea these days by listening to the radio and reading Korean newspapers, and I have Michael to thank for pointing out, indirectly, how important it was to begin doing so.

So...YEAH...knowledge of the local language,in my mind, does conflate with a certain degree of insight and wisdom, provided that one is actively engaged in studying the host society. why else do we read Michael's blog?

Finally, why is everyone taking Gary's word for it, even if he is Korean? Without mentioning specific problems in the letter, then I think his comment is valueless. I could have trolled and said the same thing, and my Korean is much worse!

[J.J. Hunsecker]

You illustrate my point inadvertently without even realizing it Mr. Turnball. To wit: "until my Korean started improving I had very outdated opinions about Korea because they were all based on books written in English." All your knowledge and assumptions about a society were based on an activity done in isolation: reading. Not that I'm saying one can't learn anything useful from reading. In fact, they most definitely can. But it isn't really the same thing as actual face-to-face interaction with a society, however constrained and awkward said interaction maybe. It is this aspect of Mr. Hurt's experience in Korea that I think he should emphasis when claiming the validity of his insights about Korean society-not his fluency in the language. 'Cause let's be honest, any shmuck with decent intelligence and a decent amount of effort can learn enough of a language to be minimally conversant. Just because one can have some understanding of radio progams in a foreign language doesn't mean their insights about that society has deepened. Without the sort of deep personal and bitter experience to buttress that fluency, no high-level ability in that language will mean anything.

Take for instance Bradley K. Martin, author of "Under the Care of the Fatherly Leader." The guy researched his book with the help of interpretors and translators and still wrote a lovely book about North Korea that was penetrating and insightful while flawed in some sections. Or take some the writings of journalist Ian Buruma. He doesn't speak a whiff of Korean yet if you've read any of his articles about Korea in the New York Review of Books they flow with the sort of thoughts and reflections that I think many fluent Korean speakers wish they could marshall.

Don't get me wrong, I'm trying to defend Gary here. What he said was sophmoric and rude. But I think that his boorishness was to a certain degree understandable. Many specialist in whatever area it is that they specialize in always seem to fall back on the "fluency-factor": I speak the language you don't, therefore what you have to say is less worthy. It's this sort of arrogance that irks me.

In opining on Flaubert's "Sentimental Education" the esteemed critic Edmund Wilson wrote: "To fully appreciate the book one must have had time to see something of life." The reasoning can be applied to foreign societies: to fully appreciate one must have had time to see somthing of it, not merely be able to parrot its sounds.

[The Metropolitician]

Thanks, J.J. for the comment.

But I have to disagree with you on the point of language and how I represent it's utility.

I'd have you point out where I've bragged about my language proficiency in Korea, which I have never held over anyone's head as a point of pride, since I actually don't think my ability in Korean is anything special at all, and simply a byproduct of much time spent in Korea.

That being said, I do bristle when people dismiss the real efforts I have made to learn this language as just being because I have a Korean mother, since I was struggling through the rudimentary parts of Korean and fumbling over grammar and phrases back in 1994 just like any other beginner, and have paid my dues. So I have taken issue with people who say, "Oh, well, he's just a kyopo, anyway." I did my do-diligence, and it pisses me off when people who've been in Korea for 10 years or so who are trying to justify their own insecurities about whatever Korean they have or haven't learned by dismissing me as "just being a heritage speaker." I paid my dues, so don't use me as part of one's own silly justification, I say, in that case.

When I bring up my language ability – which I insist in saying I am under no illusions about being impressed with – it is only when it is brought up by others who are trying to use this argument like Gary: "Your Korean sucks, so you don't know s**t" or kyopos who assume I don't speak the language and then say something like "if you could speak Korean, you'd know X." In those cases, I AM snarky and say something like "I probably speak Korean better than you, so please drink a cup of STFU, since you're just being stupid now."

Or, I bring up the fact that yes, language ability is, to some extent, a sign of how much effort and commitment one puts into the language and culture. I'm not saying it's some concrete marker, but I do know there's something to be said about some lifelong expats with time and the opportunity on their hands (say, English teachers who've been here for 10+ years) who don't speak much more than a lick of Korean, and other non-heritage speakers who go to languge schools on their own time and dime, and really get into said language and culture.

That being said, I know many people who are busy, or simply not too concerned with learning Korean. I don't pass judgement. In fact, I've long ago abandoned any complex or sense of accomplishment in my Korean abilities, because I know that kind of thinking is pointless:

1) I've found that the more one worries about one's ability (i.e. being embarrassed about it), and/or the more one is impressed with oneself (lacking humility), the less one improves. I always say "my Korean sucks" in comparison to where I want to be and what I want to do. If that makes anyone feel bad, I do apologize, but I'm not comparing to others, I'm truly not. I've just decided to take the stance that my Korean will always "suck" and never try to be satisfied with it. I see the day I am satisfied with Korean as the day I truly stagnate.

2) No matter where I am in Korean, I realize that there will always be foreigners with lower or higher ability than me. To me, it's just a matter of slowly slidinng from one end of the scale to another. And I like being humbled, whether it's the Israeli-American woman I worked with at UNESCO briefly who, if you closed your eyes, sounded EXACTLY like a native speaker, or Oranckay, who, like a good sunbae, always tells me, "You need to improve your Korean, dude. You're stagnating." And I know that where I sit on that scale is largely a function of time spent here, effort, as well as the luxury of having come to Korea in a way that has allowed me to learn Korean more easily than others, i.e. starting out with working in the Korean countryside with the expressed purpose of learning the language and culture.

So, since I am anything but impressed with my own abilities or accomplishments in the langauge, and am realistic about how I've gotten to even where I am, I find it hard to believe that I've ever said anywhere in this blog anything that would imply the opposite. If you've gotten that impression, I do apologize, but perhaps you got that impression when I was debating an arrogant ass just like Gary and I said something that came off that way? Because surely, it wasn't intended to be that.

Anyone who knows me know that I don't use my Korean language abilities as a tool for bashing anyone, I don't size up foreigners on said language abilities, and in fact, I bend over backwards to be helpful to foreigners learning Korean who are in earlier stages of what I like to think of as a journey through the languages, of which we are simply at different stages and are taking in our own way.

For example, when ordering at a restaurant, I don't try to speak for others, and if I'm with say, a person taking Korean classes, I try to get out of the way, don't order for them, or try to make a big show of being a foreigner speaking Korean in front of those who don't, or try to subtly make heritage speakers feel bad, etc.

Still, without me even doing that, sometimes those said people get offended by me just speaking Korean, or have a complex about my abilities being higher than theirs (say, certain "full" kyopos). Whatever. Not my problem, their complex. Once, in a Bay Area Korean karaoke bar, me and my Fulbright friend Beth, with whom I spent 2 years on the same island, in the same town, learning Korean from scratch on our own and paying our goddamned dues, came to visit me on her way out of Korea (she left a few months after I did). We had one night to paint the town red, and we did so by getting some nakji-bokkum and trying to get some singing in (this was the only Korean place in 1996 within reach of those without a car on the Berkeley campus).

So we are talking, laughing, having a good ole time, and put in our number for the song request. She loved DJ DOC, and when her song came up, she did the damn thing, with rap interludes included. The bar was stunned that a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl had just done what she had done in pizz-erfect Korean, and it caused quite a sensation, much more than we thought. And I did a couple songs, and in the end did no more and no less than anyone else in the bar. But we got some dirty looks from certain patrons (as well as compliments) and later I heard that word had gotten around that I was some "showoff." And some kyopos didn't like that I tested into 4th-year Korean when I showed up on campus.

Whatever. Screw 'em. I'm not going to actually APOLOGIZE for speaking Korean, or having learned it. If people like that are threatened by something I don't even see as a "sign" of anything (but rather a part of their own acculturation/identity complex), it's their problem.

So, when this comes up, it's usually in that context, and I'm telling kyopos on this blog, "Screw you and judging me EITHER WAY based on my actual or assumed Korean abilities. Your complex, not mine."

Anyway, I hope that makes clear perhaps any snarky comments I've made around the matter of Korean. But if you look back at any of my posts, I highly doubt you'll find any out-and-out bragging or signs of me being impressed with my language abilities. Because trust me, I'm not.

[The Metropolitician]

Reading back through the other comment from J.J., I have to say that I think you're projecting your own complex about your Korean abilities here.

And I'd have to say that "any schmuck" in fact DOESN'T in fact end up learning Korean, and that the "ability to parrot" a language's "sounds" gives quite a bit of a window into the culture and society. Sure, experience is important and can't replace booklearning (who would actually disagree with that?), but I'm sorry, being able to read the newspapers, listen to the radio, understand coffee shop conversations, talk to people over the proverbial water cooler – that's pretty darn crucial towards getting a deeper understanding the place where you are, whether it's Korea, Bulgaria, or China.

The more you speak the lingo, the more people trust you, the more access you gain, the more you can have meaningful back-and-forths with different types of people.

So, while I don't brag and boast about my abilities, I'm not going to say it's just "parroting sounds" and unimportant. That sounds more like a person justifying where they are (and not being happy with) the language more than a reasonable statement.

[Korea Beat]

kole,

My translation is here. It's not perfect but overall I feel I can stand by it.

http://koreabeat.com/?p=70

[James Turnbull]

I really don't understand how my comments could be so misintrepeted.

Michael, where on Earth do I say that you have EVER bragged about your level of Korean?

I was referring towards something that either you or Robert Koehler quickly said towards the end of the podcast where you interview him, which was that there was a great deal of debate and disagreement about a number of contemporary issues on the Korean net. If neither of you said this next, then it's certainly implied at least that without some Korean ability then you can be completely unaware of it...which in turn makes the temptation to generalise about some features of Korean society all the greater.

Okay, my bad, I said that is what I "realised" from your podcast. I should have said that that is the lesson I personally learned from it. Being a pretentious MA student, I've been VERY guilty of having a more-intellectual, more-knowlegeable-of-Korea-than-thou image of myself ever since I stepped off the plane, and my own increasing use of Korean sources, but your podcast especially, finally made me realise I should kick my ass off my own pedestal. Seriously, literally since I heard that podcast I've been immersing myself in the Korean media as much as possible. It was a big, very overdue wake-up call for me.

Mr(?) Hunsecker, because of this I am more aware of changes in Korean society as they happen, and my opinions about Korea and Koreans have, dare I say it, become more nuanced, subtle, and less generalistic as a result. Partially your comment is my fault, for I said that "all" my opinions of Korea came from books...no, they don't, I've been here 7 years and have a Korea wife etc., not that this automatically makes me a Korean guru by any means, but is not irrelevant. I DO have the personal direct experience you speak of.

But please also think about what you said for a moment: "Just because one can have some understanding of radio progams in a foreign language doesn't mean their insights about that society has deepened." Are you kidding? Of course they will, especially if, like I said (twice), it is combined with an active study of it too. Am I really being naive in thinking that I will learn more about Korea from reading blogs like Michael's, whose Korean ability is better than mine, than one of the other 300 blogs out there from people who can't say dick in Korean? Sure, I may have implied I only read it because of that, which couldn't be further from the truth (have about 50 links to various posts of his on my blog), and of course I still learn things about Korea from people who can't speak Korean...just moved 2 bookcases bloody full of books written by them to my new apartment 2 weeks ago!

I have to say though, I really do think you have a unduly low opinion of the use of language in learning about a society. I hate to be personal and criticise a family member of yours, but your father has been in America for 25 years but still speaks English haltingly? I dare say that he interacts a great deal with Koreans then, and relies on younger first and second generation family members for dealing with most Americans? In my mind, that makes his opinions about American society no more valauable than the long-timers here who spend all their time
in Itaewon and/or their Univerisites, relying on English-speaking Korean friends or spouses to interact with people outside of their very small little foreign enclaves. We all readily criticise them and wouldn't give their opinions about Korea the time of day; to be blunt, what makes your father any different to them?

[J.J. Hunsecker]

First things first. The notion that I'm somehow projecting my insecurities about my ability to speak Korean is dubious at best. Fact of the matter is, Mr. Hurt has never met me to make such sweeping psychoanlytic arguments. I was bringing up the issue of language in how Mr. Hurt uses it when debating and arguing. I'm not trying to debate mine nor Mr. Hurt's superb language ability of lack thereof.

No, what I'm trying to show is how Mr. Hurt and Mr. Turnball make awfully narrow-minded assertions about how a foreign culture can be understood. I'm not trying to say I have a "low opinion of the use of language in learning about a society." I'm merely saying that its not the only god-damn game in town. Gentleman, you can learn all the Korean, French, Farsi, Hindi, or Urdu. Fact of the matter is, with out any imaginative leaps, risks in conceptualizing, or empathy all that fluency comes to naught. But how does one gain the aforementioned things? EXPERIENCE. So Mr. Turnball, listen to all the radio programs you want, even spend many a lovely evenings conversing with your graceful wife in your new found language, but until you go out and brave the challenges of that society your understanding will still be incomplete. See, in the end if we followed you logic to the letter all would be but a mere verbal parlor game.

But I think what would better illustrate my point is a personal story of mine. When my agency sent me to Korea to work for a number of years I found myself having to rely heavily on my white-caucasian colleagues who had been in country longer than I had. It wasn't because they spoke better Korean than I. No, on the contrary my language ability was superior the theirs, hence I was sent to Korea in the first place. No, the reason I relied on them so heavily was because they had knowledge and wisdom about living in Korea in 2003 that a gyopo growing up with his Korean parents wouldn't. My language ability didn't set the foundation for time in Korea. Rather my language ability merely helped ease things along.

And in defense of my father, no he isn't some secluded immigrant who deals exclusively with other Koreans. Fact is there aren't that many Koreans in the area we live. In his private time, I'll admit, that he speaks and socializes mostly with the other few Koreans who do live in the area. Professionally, however, he deals 100% with white-caucasians. So I think that someone whose dealt with Americans on such an extensive level would have something useful to say about America.

[James Turnbull]

Mr. Hunsecker, with all due respect, I do have this vaunted EXPERIENCE you speak of: like I said, I've been here 7 years. Sure, I agree listening to the radio and reading Korean newspapers wouldn't be quite as useful if you weren't actually in Korea. Still pretty important though, and while here sure as hell has helped me get more of all that EXPERIENCE too!

[The Metropolitician]

By the way, James, I misaddressed you initially, in my first reponse, when I meant to be addressing my reply to JJ. I corrected that immediately, but you may not have gotten that correction if you read this blog by RSS or otherwise download the comments offline. I apologize for the misunderstanding and misattributing statements. That reponse was addressed to JJ, not you.

[James Turnbull]

No problem. I WAS indeed very suprised - It was only my second comment ever on the blog after all!

[bumfromkorea]

"My Korean is "pathetic?" Well, Gary, let's see how big your dick is, since you're comparing."

Made me laugh out loud and now the water I was drinking a moment ago is coming out of my nose. Thanks a lot, Metro...

The letter only had marginal errors, gary. It's helluva lot more coherent then all the English essays I get to edit (I work at my school's writing center).

Going back to the actual letter, I think that while it is fair for you to say these things, I can't help but think that there is a certain level of overreaction. For one, the article was from "Sports Chosun", whose journalistic merits are somewhere between The National Enquirers and Fox News Channel (sorry, had to sneak in liberal jokes in there somewhere...) and is recognized as so domestically. For another, it seems to me that all these xenophobic articles aren't getting that much public attention...

But I'm nitpicking here - it breaks my heart to hear a story about Korean xenophobia or to read newspaper articles that makes me wince. Using the quote from the LA riot (irony all intended), "Can't we just all get along?"

I would have to challenge "찰리 일본이나 중국에 가라고 할 수 밖에 없습니다." though. Call this argument tu quoque, but when you use comparisons to other countries' xenophobia level in order to make an argument against Korea, that's just disingenuous. Even in U.S., where at least in my opinion xenophobia is at the lowest level in the entire world, a day doesn't go by without me hearing whispers of "ching-chong" or sneezes that sounds like "slant-eye"... not to mention "You're not taking math courses? But you're Asian!"

It is legitimate to make argument against xenophobia itself (I'm sending the reporter a strong rebuke as well), but when you make it into a "A is bad, B is better" the argument is no longer sound.

[The Metropolitician]

well, you're right of course – can't disagree with you there. The one thing that I do in Korean, which I don't nearly as much in English, is make appeals to "the nation" and one's sense of responsibility to it. When making such critique of nationalism or thick-headedness in Korean, what I have to do is drape myself in the flag and my emotional connection to Korea; doing both usually makes my argument much much more effective than if I don't appeal to emotion in a really obvious way.

I've found that if I just say what I would normally say in English, many Koreans seems to still reject what I say. I have to put in there, tranlsated into English that makes it sound cheesy: "I love Korea with a true heart. It is the birth nation of my mother and a place I consider my own family."

I would never use such language in English, what with the appeal to the mom, as well as bloodlines and such. And I do also add that I am really a foreigner, and that many other foreigners share a love for Korea, too. But starting the link at blood usually works best. And in general, when making such arguments, even as a non-Korean, appeals to emotion tend to work best. If you actually listen to Korean folks argue, you'll see that essential difference in agumentative style: emotion as a key element.

I think it's interesting, frustrating (since it's not how I was taught to argue in American culture), and useful all at the same time. And if one is used to the mode, then it gets easier to deal with. Take for example the recent Afghanistan hostages situation. When Korean folks would ask me what I thought, my mere opinion was enough to piss people off, so I first start out by saying 2 things: 1) "You might not like my answer, but you asked..." and 2) I would say this were the hostages American. Then I'd say that I didn't think there should be any negotiations. A conversation would happen, but the most-used arguments were taken care of from the git-go and we were (usually) able to talk about the issue, mostly.

Or take when I talk about photography: I know the Korean law, have it printed on a laminated card in my camera bags, yet when we talk about photo law, the conversation inevitably turns to "but you have to think about the feelings of the person." Sure - but we weren't talking about that. We were talking about the law. But when I, through many arguments about even the terms "secret camera" or "sneaky shooting" being paranoid, since those terms apply to like most of the candid photographs ever shot in history, and still, 95% of the people I shoot either don't notice or don't care – it still boils down to emotion. And I agree with them: sometimes, people might get annoyed. But I've decided that you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette, and treat it as a numbers game when trying to reduce the damage.

While observing the law, and trying not to be noticed, if you shoot hundreds of shots at a time, a few people will notice, and a few of them might get angry. You try to reduce that number as much as possible, and you try to deal with them in as friendly and constructive way as possible after the fact (hence carrying legal info cards, my name card, and giving people a clear sense that I'm not the mythical pornographer-on-the-street-who-photographs-them-and-puts-their-face-on-other-people's-bodies)
so they know why I snapped them. And of the very few people who remain angry after all that, quite frankly, all of them, save one, were simply unreasonable people. I think that's a fair way to handle the situation, and a good answer to their question, but still, most people say, "But I still wouldn't like it."

OK, in the end, all that argument boils down to that. Sure, non-Koreans think like that, too, but I think there's a LOT of emphasis on how I/others/we might feel, keeping harmony with the group, and keeping up appearances and reputation. Which is why photographers are in such a weird spot in Korea, and why Bae Du-na's photo book about Japan is a best-seller while publishing the same book in Korea, lawsuits aside, would be considered in a negative light. Because it's US, and doesn't matter when the same principle is applied to THEM.

The examples of the emotional aspects of "우리" and social groups and ties would be too myriad to talk about. I just realize that when making statements such as the ones in the letter, in order to most effectively make this woman feel bad, using the rhetoric of nation, family, belonging, and responsibility are simply the best. In all my experience arguing with Korean people, I've found this mode of argument incredibly effective.

[Sonagi]

"I would have to challenge "찰리 일본이나 중국에 가라고 할 수 밖에 없습니다." though. Call this argument tu quoque, but when you use comparisons to other countries' xenophobia level in order to make an argument against Korea, that's just disingenuous.

I would challenge that statement on the basis of my four years of experience in China and well-publicized examples of racism and xenophobia in Japan, such as the Foreigner Crime Files.

Even in U.S., where at least in my opinion xenophobia is at the lowest level in the entire world, a day doesn't go by without me hearing whispers of "ching-chong" or sneezes that sounds like "slant-eye"... not to mention "You're not taking math courses? But you're Asian!"

Not a day goes by, huh? Guess it depends on where you live. My ethnic Korean and Chinese friends have had occasional negative experiences; racist remarks, gestures, and behaviors are not an everyday occurrence.

RE: Michael's Korean

I am a non-native speaker, and I did spot a few errors, but that does not mean Michael's RECEPTIVE skills (listening and reading) are not native-like. Language skills do help, but obviously, language proficiency alone does not qualify one as an expert.

As for Hunsecker's father, his longtime work experience in the US compensates somewhat for his low language skills, but he is no expert because his views reflect limited contact and filtered information from other Korean speakers. There is so much about America and Americans that is inaccessible to him.

Getting back to Michael's letter, I think Michael's anger was justified, but the letter will only make Kim Yunhee angry and defensive, rather than reflective. National shame and face are effective motivators but name-calling like 인종차별주의자 김윤희 isn't.

[MikeJDRunky]

Everyone is racist to you metrosexualian. Why not write nice things about Korea? I think you need some time off, maybe go home and never go back to Korea until you learn to like it some more.

and MJFOX is sooooo drunk, you could use some of his whiskey and lighen up. GOT IT MY MAN!

[Daeso]

I hope... you'd better not spend your valuable energy for such a trifling matter...
I think....Some readers of that paper...if they are sound-thinking koreans...can recognize that it's not a reasonable view of the whole foreigners...
And...I think that newspaper is just for the gossipmongers...
Nobody can say just in one word ...about any group of people...
Of course...you could be irritated...
but...don't be tossed by that small waves..
You're cool...so just IGNORE...^^