I started off at a private language institute before upgrading to university. All of the Korean instructors there had lived in English-speaking countries for many years and had native-like English skills. They were no less qualified than the knapsackers armed with a TEFL certificate from a Cracker Jack box. The indignant tone of some native English teachers makes me laugh because I have a MA TESOL and became certified to teach public school in two states after passing six professional exams. Teaching is my chosen lifetime profession.

You do have a valid point that it’s the Korean employers, not foreign nationals, who sometimes make racist hiring decisions.

I simply stated the actual state of affairs. Whether you or I like it or not is a different issue…. I just take full-advantage of the way I was “thrown into being,” as Heidegger might say.

Nobody–Korean, Western or otherwise–likes a contract changed, but the “respect” I refer to is in the media and in the general sense of the “xenophobic” Korean public.

“Do you seriously prefer universities hire only Korean university graduates?” Are you on drugs? Hell no, I’d lose money.

Oh yes, one more thing, Aussies should “laugh.” Part-timing Pols and Russians I know pretend they are Americans…so who is really getting “standard” English anyway?

Certainly some truth in this but they’re here also because they’re most qualified for the job and “Standard English” (whether British or North American) is exactly what many students want to learn, over say Bengali English. And of course teachers want respect - do you like it when your boss changes your contract mid-year?

Let’s talk about that “semi-racism” because it’s certainly out there. In South Korea Whites do tend to be hired over equally qualified (and accented) Black Americans or Black Brits. Such decisions are made by KOREAN employers, who have also been known to tell Australian and New Zealand teachers (also those bad old Whites by the way) to PRETEND to be Canadian or American or British. Ah, do ya laugh or cry?

It’s easy to diss Standard English as ‘racist’ or whatever but it’s preferred by students for a very good reason; to avoid limits to effective communication in international settings. Do you seriously prefer local language institutes and universities hire only Korean university graduates who (maybe) half function in English and pass on Standard Konglish to their students? Students typically get enough of that ‘wonderful’ approach in grade school, don’t they?

Lone Star’s John Grayken claims that decisions regarding KEB were never handled locally, which is frankly hard to believe. Sure, it incoporated where it could give advantage, but come on - who really believes that Lee was not in charge?

However, for the guy on the street (if he knows anything about this at all), the profits somehow belong to Korea and Koreans, even if Grayken’s claim is actually true. To me, that’s laughable, because had KEB been profitable on its own, it sure as hell would have used the profits wherever it best-aided the interests of the bank and its investors - not Korea or Koreans.

“Korea’s struggle to maintain its independence from foreign invasion goes back centuries. With a history like Korea’s, fearing foreigners seems justified.”

Why do some people continue to buy into this ‘poor Korea’ crap? Yes it was sad but get over it. Korea isn’t the only country which has had foreign invasions but it might be the only one to bite the hand that saved its ass. Which follows somewhat naturally from what we see below:

“Despite being the most connected broadband society on the globe, a veritable poster child for digital globalization, long-nosed foreigners can still generate unblinking stares from the aged and giggles from the young, just minutes away from downtown Seoul.”

No surprise at all. ‘Internet connections per capita’ is a far far cry from ‘most educated/most global, least xenophobic etc.’ All the facts and information from the real world might be at one’s fingertips in South Korea, but this is useless if people want to believe only their own media’s propaganda.

Can you give any examples of this? I can’t think of a single one in which a company was ‘hollowed out’ by a foreign company. For example, Lone Star made huge profits, but they took over a nearly bankrupt firm, turned it around into a star performer and sold it at a great profit. Sounds like smart investors to me. Certainly not a hollowing out, and certainly not a con job.

I hope that generational change to a post 3-8-6 generation of media opinion shapers will start to vanquish the xenophobia that exists on both ends of the political spectrum.

English teachers are here BECAUSE of some semi-racist idea that only white Americans and Canadians can speak “standard English”. (BTW, my visa is E2) Now that they are here, they want respect. That is like Pam Anderson flashing her boobs all over the place, and then wanting to be taken seriously as an actor. I am suggesting that instead of griping about how the “media” calls us frauds and threats to Korean culture, take advantage of it. Dance with the girl that brung ya.