This is a cop out. I got used to hearing it mostly from first year expats in Korea and usually from those who only planned to stay in Korea a year or two at the most.

The idea that expats who complain about Korea are trying “desperately” to find “anything” to rip on Korea is bogus.

The blogs I read daily clearly focus their entries on a particular topic to discuss, and it seems to me, each blogger tends to concentrate on a particular area of interest (in my case USFK and the US-SK security alliance).

They surely don’t run around helter-skelter trying to find “anything” to rip on Korea about. If you have a particular issue that you disagree with the complaint on, then rebut the argument. Blanket charges that people who have complaints are just “Korea haters” is lame.

Take a look at any news program around the world. How much “positive” news do you hear? How many stories about babies born that day? / How many about a 12 car pile up killing 6?

And what bothers me besides the attempt to dismiss complaints about this or that in Korea also tags things like this too it — “There is no attempt at truly understanding.”

Because too often I’ve run across usually first year in Korea expats, who still have the shine in their eyes about being in a different land, who will desperately try to block out the negative in order to have the picture they want about their Korea experience.

But I wouldn’t call this “truly understanding.”

Above all, at least the blogs I read daily, are done by people who HAVE MADE A LONG TERM COMMITTMENT to “understanding” Korea.

It seems obvious, but I am pretty sure the vast majority of the long term expats in Korea don’t stay there because they hate it…

I know I haven’t lived in Korea so many years, tried hard to learn the language (which I haven’t been very successful at) and spent MANY hours reading about its social history, because I just wanted to “find something, anything” to tear it down………and it seems like the blogs I read have people who have done much the same.

I wonder if Robert Holly every complains about Korea?

The Asian financial crisis (”IMF crisis” for Asians) began in 1997/1998. The first country to be hit by the currency crisis (rapid Baht-depreciation, flight of foreign investments) was Thailand.

Shin Jong Il has made a good point in these lines. It’s like so many of the expat blogs linked around here exist merely to rip on something, anything, in Korea on a daily basis. There is no attempt at truly understanding. Just criticism on why Korea isn’t the way they want it to be.

Lot’s of name calling and accusations (”goob,” “whining,” “slinging mud”) but no content. No content means no backup. If you want your opinions to be taken seriously, you should at least provide examples to support your accusations. For example, when you accuse me of “whining” about Korea, you should provide a quote, or at least a paraphrase of what you think I said.

As far as slinging mud, you might have noticed that my reference to the “spike issue” was sympathetic to the Korean side of this story. However, it’s clear that your hatred determined your understanding of those words.

Like I said, you’ve implied a perfectly effective way to keep foreigners out of Korea. Are you willing to act on it, instead of just talking (and writing)?

Incidently, I quite enjoy living in Korea. I’d still be willing to leave if the plan that you propose becomes reality.

Anyway, trying to stay on topic, my own opinion about the spikes is that it sounds like something Imperial Japan would’ve done. The “spiking” would have been nothing for a government that could set up something like Unit 731. I’m not saying that I’m sure they did it, but there’s clearly no reason to think that they wouldn’t have if they thought it would be useful. And why go to the effort of planting the spikes if they didn’t think it would be useful for something? I’ve never heard of any sort of “positive” spike-planting in Japan, Shinto-related or otherwise. If the Japanese did indeed plant those spikes around Korea, what reason is there to think that they had any but a negative purpose?

Of course, this is all speculative, since I’ve never actually seen one of the spikes. I’m going to see if I can get a copy of that video footage, if it exists.

uh-huh, folks like you, rheesus, are the ones spending your time whinning about the people you CHOOSE to live with. if you detect that i despise your average expat, well, that’s true. but then, i also despise your average goober from the sticks. you know the one, likes rush linbaugh, thinks afirmative action is the source of his failures, has a truck that passes for a tank, and just loves to say the n word when other goobers are around.

hatred for a goob like you? yes.
hatred for my country the us? no.

now get back to your slinging the mud as that was your favorite passtime back there in sleepy holler deep in the sticks of moonshine county.

arattda?

ps my little stroy above was relevant and needed to counter all the whinning flowing from the folks of the angry expat brigade.

you guys please, try to have at least one good day there in korea, ok? just one, alright? try hard and stop the tears.

OK?

Further more, it wasn’t done to break the spirit of the Korean people. It was done to… well… ahh, lets just say that Neil Diamond wouldn’t be the only one out killing homeless people so they could… you know.

Although not a native Texan, I seem to fit in well. No one stares at me, pokes at me, insults my wife, or relieves themself outside my house. I must say that none of these happened to me in Korea, either (in fact quite the opposite!); but Mr Shin emptied his spleen right after _my_ posting…

We have many rude people in the US. Please allow me to apologize for his immaturity–we don’t do a good job of educating our youth on manners and common decency.

Assuming he ever rises to the point of paying property taxes on his own property and chasing crabgrass and dandelions out of his own lawn, he may see wisdom at last…

On the actual subject, I first heard about the Japanese spike issue from this site (sorry if it’s been posted somewhere else, or if everyone’s already familiar with it):

http://www.gkn-la.net/history_.....mskang.htm

The writer mentions that the removal of one of the spikes was shown on television. If this is true, it seems like it should be possible to get a copy of the footage (from the KBS archives?). I’d certainly be interested in seeing it.