Whew -- some major shit going down over here on the peninsula.
Let me just weigh in on a few of these issues before I go off to my next appointment -- I've been pretty busy these days and not able to write much as of late.
One thing I'm really happy about is the publication of the National Human Rights Commission complaint/report entitled "Discrimination Against Non-Citizens in the Republic of Korea in the Context of the E-2 Foreign Language Teaching Visa" -- it proves, once and for all and in a condensed, official summary, that the media construction of foreign English teachers as drug abusers, sex offenders, or somehow otherwise a threat to Korean youth is total and utter bullshit. And the increased scrutiny of foreign English teachers at immigration through strict and sometimes ridiculous requirements are by definition wrong and discriminatory, because they are based on false and discriminatory media bias.
Using the government's own statistics -- which have always been available to the Korean press, by the way, and have been used by responsible expat bloggers here -- it shows that not only is the average RATE of crimes committed by foreigners in EVERY category far, far lower than in the overall Korean population, the actual raw numbers are so small that the media frenzy we see today is almost shameful.
Out of nearly 20,000 E-2 visa holders last year, guess how many were convicted of ANY drug crime? 13. And 12 were for pot, with the numbers being pretty much split by the US and Canada. THIRTEEN?! The Korean media would have you think -- and they have already made the Korean population thinking this way -- that this is a rampant problem in Korea. There aren't enough E-2 visa holders to fill 4 taxis. Or a subway car. Or my fucking living room.
The same is true of sex offenders -- as I have said before and as the many cases appearing in the newspaper make clear -- if you're worried about having your kid molested or raped by a teacher in Korea, it is almost statistically certain that it will be done by a Korean national. There are NO cases of convictions of foreigners for molestation of a minor, and in the "sex crime" category in GENERAL, only 39 cases at all -- and this category includes everything from sexual harassment to assault to molestation. Not saying that rape or sexual harrassment is alright, but the point here is that foreigners are being made out to be some kind of child molesters, with the funny thing being that there has never been a single conviction. And even in this category, the rate of "sex crime" is 4 times lower per foreign capita than for Korean nationals.
And the same seemed true for the fake degree issue: once the light was taken off the relatively few bozos over here teaching on fake documents and shined in the Korean direction, yep! Of course there were so many cases of major Korean stars, actors, directors, and other intelligentsia with fakes degrees that suddenly, there was no point in looking at foreigners anymore. And it got quite uncomfortable.
I and others have been saying it for YEARS. Armed with more official reports and better PR organization, we're going to have to use the power of public humiliation to bring this issue to light. This is the only way to change things in Korea.
Next is a report on how these media constructions have led to increased harassment of foreigners, and even increased cases of physical violence. Most Koreans have a hard time believing the reality of life for foreigners here in Korea, but then again, most Koreans don't have to live in foreign skin. This is one true shame of Korea these days: in the 90's, seeing drunk ajussis or having an occasional weird incident happened, but nowadays, I think every foreigner has either the experience or knows someone who has been seriously verbally or physically attacked. FOR BEING A FOREIGNER. And I know for a fact that a LOT of those living in Korea these days leave the country cursing its name.
This doesn't bode well for the good "branding" of Korea.
Which is going to go further? Some television commercials or brochures about how "Sparkling" Korea is, or thousands of former English teachers going back to their home countries with nothing other than negative things to say about Korea? Korea's potentially best ambassadors have instead become its worst enemies. And can I say I blame them? And say what one will about being mugged or the victim of a violent attack in other countries -- the point is that this is resulting from a clear pattern of media targeting of foreigners that results in the actual physical targeting of foreigners on the streets.
And this phenomenon is recent, concrete, and has a concrete cause -- and irresponsible media and a populace willing to believe ANYTHING that is said about a non-Korean.
The Korean media's day of reckoning is coming. We're getting organized, collecting data, and filing reports. Just wait until a NYT article comes out on the subject, or CNN does a little story on it. Would be fun to watch that fur fly.
