Comments on: KBS…

By: Brendon Carr

Brendon Carr — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 06:13:20 +0000

Headline: “Korean Husbands Are Scary”

By: jtb-in-texas

jtb-in-texas — Sun, 27 Nov 2005 10:00:58 +0000

So… for those of us Hangugguo-impaired readers, the headline says…. what?

“Woman says: ‘Husband had a bad morning’”?

By: Mizar5

Mizar5 — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 08:59:56 +0000

Who cares what provocative comments the papers print? That’s their stock in trade. The question is, will Korean national consciousness ever change? What fundamental cultural issues cause such attrocities to occur with such regularity? And whe will people face up to it and make a change?

By: James

James — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 08:38:25 +0000

What I didnt care for about it is that it stereotyped all unions of more than one nationality as being prone to some sort of major problem usually being violence. I agree that it is a hugely underreported problem. It would be nice if first of all non-Korean spouses that live here gain some official support and even nicer if Koreans came to the conclusion that many of them live in dysfunctional families that are seriously flawed by issues such as infidelity, alcohol abuse and violence and tried to do something about it.

By: Sonagi

Sonagi — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 07:38:59 +0000

I think Michael is right. The headline is intended to draw attention to a national problem. Foreign wives seem more vulnerable than their Korean counterparts as their husbands are able to deny them Korean citizenship.

By: Mizar5

Mizar5 — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 05:15:33 +0000

Yes.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 23:18:34 +0000

“If this is a quote from the wife and not a faux quotation that is actually a reporter’s summary, I don’t have much of a problem with it.” Exactly, and you have to consider the intended readers–the editor may be underscoring it as a social issue in Korea with that choice of quote.

By: kushibo

kushibo — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 22:59:43 +0000

If this were a story in a Korean paper/site about a Korean woman married to a Filipino or a Japanese or an American, saying “My Filipino/Japanese/American husband is scary” or “Filipino/Japanese/American husbands are scary,” I think it would be far more problematic that a Filipina/Japanese/American, etc. saying this about her Korean husband.

The first instance raises the possibility of someone in the press smearing people who “steal our women,” while the second one raises awareness about how some foreign spouses are treated by abusive Korean husbands, which I believe is an under-reported phenomenon.

If this is a quote from the wife and not a faux quotation that is actually a reporter’s summary, I don’t have much of a problem with it.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 22:10:59 +0000

Just to clarify a bit, I don’t care for racializing (think I just coined a new word) but the woman is not Korean, and the quote reflects her experience. Korean media has a bad tendency to note someone’s race/ethnicity when it’s not relevant.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 21:51:16 +0000

Is the headline quoting her as saying “all” Korean husbands are scary? Sure it’s a generalization, but it’s just a quote from a traumatized woman, not a sociological observation. A little sensationalized, but the story is really horrific anyway.