Seems like some of my melanin-deficient brothers had a bit of a rough time with the anti-FTA protesters:
A Swiss man and two friends were set upon by a mob of angry protesters who apparently mistook them for Americans on Wednesday. The group of 10, who were taking part in a Gwangwhamun rally to protest against an FTA between Korea and the U.S., approached the man and his friends shouting abuse in Korean, most of which he could not understand.
Walter, the victim, said one of the young men then started abusing him at him in English, to the point where they almost came to blows. But a university student who was passing dissuaded his assailant. He asked if Walter and his friends were American but added, “Even if you tell them that you aren’t, they won’t believe you,” Walter said. The student advised them to cross over to the other side of the street.
The Chosun Ilbo recounts some other protest tales from other resident barbarians. Give ‘em a read.
And for what it’s worth, I’ve never had a problem with protesters (knock on wood), but then again, I don’t make it a point to walk through large anti-American gatherings.
36 Comments
I know many, many Koreans who are not xenophobic (even a few that know all big nosers here are not migook!), so I propose an even swap: send the protestors to N. Korea and let anyone up there who wants to leave come here. That way the protestors won’t have to mingle with the mixed-breed waegooks and the worker’s paradise will be filled with like-minded sons of Dangun.
“And for what it’s worth, I’ve never had a problem with protesters (knock on wood), but then again, I don’t make it a point to walk through large anti-American gatherings.”
Interestingly enough, when I was in Okinawa I WOULD make it a point to go to the anti-American protests yet never experienced anything like this. Granted anti-US military presence in Japan protests include people handing out flyers that explain their position, walking a block with signs, and then posing for the media. Interestingly enough, some of the things Okinawan residents have been asking for they have received, bases are being closed (1) — Has the ‘Korean method’ produced any positive results recently/ever?
The article makes it seem like the problem is not the ganging up on an individual and starting stuff, the problem is he wasn’t American. Had he been American it would have been okay?
— — — —
(1) However I don’t agree with the decision, I think America needs to have a presence in Japan to counter China, North Korea, and possibly South Korea after America pulls out.
Real bad for S Korea’s int’l reputation… including
tourism. stupid assholes, to harrass bystanders!
My brother came to visit me in Seoul from England last year, and while I sent him to explore the city during my working hours, he stumbled across a big FTA protest. Far from having any problems, he came back with a bag full of Korean flags and a memory stick full of pictures of him grinning with a bunch of protesters.
I should probably point out that my brother is a bit weird
Good for your brother, “Headache”.
I believe the police need to get serious about keeping Korea a nice place to visit though. These people give all Koreans a bad reputation.
Who taught these “thick” (Nazi?) Swiss people to get into verbal fights with locals. Do they think they own the whole world? How would they think if some Koreans go over to Swiss and get into verbal fights with locals?
Are they so stupid?
It took a smart Korean to tell them what to do. “The student advised them to cross over to the other side of the street”.
If they had got beaten up by angry mob, they would complain, “Koreans are evil people”.
Fugh. Go fugh across the street! You are just guests. Don’t fugh with hosts. Especially ignorant Koreans who speak broken English.
There are proper places and times to talk reason and international politics.
Some get willingly in verbal or else fights with drunk/excited Koreans. Some just mind peacefully their business and get harrassed for no real reason. Happened to me several times, including once that ended in a short trip to the local emergency room [and a completely busted bar, but that's another story].
Chances are these guys are in Seoul on business, and didn’t know there was a demo. Guess what kind of image they’re taking back home…?
Baduk, you are an ass-backwards idiot sometimes, and this, like your braindead tirade against Reuters last month, is one of those cases.
First of all, it’s “Switzerland” in English, not “Swiss”. Please do try to keep up.
I suppose you might have a point as to the whole blaming the victim thing. After all, if a black person shows up to a Klan rally, who’s to blame when he or she gets beat up? Now, I guess you could go ahead and blame the protestors, but what sense would that make? After all, the Swiss were obviously just there to bait the protestors as symbols of globalization. Everyone knows that Korea would be a perfectly utopian society had foreigners not come to break their blessed isolation. Isolationism works! Just look at the paradise the late Joseon dynasty was (and North Korea is now). How dare those Swiss nazi bastards come and remind us that we’re not in the 19th Century anymore! Damn neutrals.
yes yes those poor addushi’s had to stand up to the bad americans of course in a crowd of 10,000 koreans and a few mistaken foreigners they feel like big guys
pretty pathetic that right in the heart of the largest city in korea, city hall, tourist attractions, shopping, hotels, businesses, museums etc tourists cant enjoy themselves
yes nice job adjusshi kim!!!! you stand up for strong korea anti-FTA!!!
of course korea doesnt want complete open markets because it would lower tariffs and taxes on US goods and give koreans another choice if korean products are so much better in quality (as koreans claim they are) then koreas will still buy korean goods
saying hey show this movie 100 days and show this movie 25 days oh and in addition put that movie on 5 screens and the other movie on 1 screen
and then we will bragg about how korean movies have surpassed hollywood movies and are more popular etc etc etc etc is also freakin stupid
The same country that brought them ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ is now feeling the brunt of the protesters? Irony at its finest…
“Baduk, you are an ass-backwards idiot sometimes, and this, like your braindead tirade against Reuters last month, is one of those cases.”
Totally agree!
Baduk, for someone who appears to have been semi-educated, you sure can be an idiot sometimes. The Swiss were just walking down the street probably unaware that there was even a protest going on. It was the Koreans that set upon them. The Swiss were not baiting anyone.
YES…sometimes Koreans are the instigators. I know this is hard for most Koreans to fathom but it is true.
I think you need to take an English refresher course or stop commenting on news articles that you are obviously incapable of understanding.
Do you really consider all Swiss people to be Nazis? What is your basis for that racist accusation? Did Switzerland invade Poland and setup some concentration camps without the rest of us knowing about it. Please enlighten us to your wonderous source of knowledge Mr. Oracle of Delphi.
Sometimes I wonder if you are a real person or just a moron trolling this blog site to stir up shit. If you are for real, do us all a favor and go climb in a kimchi pot; preferably one that is about to be buried in the ground for the long winter.
All the “stupid” Korean correcting “smart and righteous” foreigners comments aside, if you are in the middle of Korean demonstration, what would you do?
Pick fights? Talk back?
No, you wouldn’t. Even a “stupid” Korean “student” told them to go across the street.
Is it so hard to do?
If you keep insisting on your rights in a foreign country, you get beaten up. I have gotten into pretty bad situations in the US and I smiled and moved on.
So, move on. Or, wind up in a hospital. The choice is yours.
Many of you have to stop thinking in terms of a group, either in “loving” or “hating” Koreans.
There are “loveable Koreans” and “detestable Koreans”; every country has their good people and bad people.
Hate runs deep. If you met nine good Koreans and one bad Korean, guess who you pick as the Korean image. The bad Korean.
It is sort of “defensive” mechanism, because you don’t want to get burned. So, you imagine the worst from Koreans, and something bad happens then it reinforces your belief.
A web of hate.
Baduk—There’s a big difference between saying “every country has its brownshirt element” and blaming the victims when they are set upon by said brownshirt element.
First of all, EVERYONE, consider the source - the Chosun Ilbo. During my long stay in Korea, I observed that news reports of any conflicts or crimes involving foreigners, whether they were victims or suspects, were often written in a biased manner. Two excellent examples are the infamous subway brawl of ‘95 and the stabbing murder of the US miltary doctor. In the first case, the Korean press went on for two weeks about how one of the GIs had supposedly sexually harassed a Korean woman. This ’sexual harassment’ was the GI putting his hand on his Korean wife’s butt, a shocking act in Korea in those days, but certainly not sexual harassment. The Korean papers NEVER acknowledged that the woman was the GI’s wife and never mentioned that she was arrested along with the GIs. No Koreans involved in the brawl were arrested. In the second case, the Korean man who stabbed the American doctor to death claimed that the doctor, who was walking down the alley with a colleague, had insulted him. The Korean papers emphasized this and treated it like a verifiable fact. I am HIGHLY skeptical of the details in this kind of story in the Korean media.
All we know is the Chosun Ilbo’s version of the event. Perhaps since the three men did not understand Korean, they did not realize they were in trouble. Perhaps when the insults were hurled in English, the foreign men did try to get away from the mob. I have been harassed, insulted, threatened, and even had my hair pulled once. Once I could not escape because I was trapped on a moving subway train. Twice I had to quick-foot it to get away from a man blocking my path. Getting away from one man is a lot easier than dodging a mob of ten, Baduk.
None of us was there, so it is impossible to judge whether the foreigners acted wisely or not.
The line “Korea was divided by the allies” has always gotten me bent out of shape.
It should read: “The allies were able to save only half of Korea.”
Anyone who doubts that it was indeed salvation provided to that southern half should note that they are free to move to the northern half, although moving back could pose a problem.
oops, I am the fool, that (#17) was intended for the post on Mr. Breen…sorry.
Oy vay! Belay my last…#17 goes with the protection racket. I will remove myself from the fray for a while.
The Swiss were just walking down the street probably unaware that there was even a protest going on.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
I’m not saying what happened to them was in any way justified (if it really happened the way it is described), but anyone paying attention at all would realize there was a protest going on.
Part of it started near my apartment, about 600 meters from Seoul Station, and it was so loud at times I had to shut the windows. There were tens of thousands of people holding up signs, chanting, shouting into microphones.
Maybe they thought they’d entered Namdaemun Market or something.
It was the Koreans that set upon them. The Swiss were not baiting anyone.
To quote Moe the bartender: Ahhh, they shouldn’ta been there in the first place.
Yeah, you know… because foreigners don’t have any rights, no matter what that pesky constitution and legal system says. And everyone knows that people standing up for their rights only ends in tragedy. After all, look at the prison camps in North Korea…. chock full of people who tried to stand up for themselves.
Retard.
Nice work on quoting out of context there, asshat. Here’s more context starting just 3 paragraphs down:
[...]However, the street closing definitely also took the bus driver by surprise. The police can’t communicate with the bus system to let them know they can’t run the usual route? He was pretty upset, as were all the other riders who had to get out and walk.
I also had no choice but to walk up the street right past all the protesters getting ready. There’s no other way to go. And, I didn’t realize that I was at protest central until my bus got blocked in from all sides.[...]
Sonagi,
I didn’t write my post blaming innocent victims. I sympathize with them because, as I have written, it happened to me as well.
I am writing to tell the foreigners to be careful. Koreans have different cultural background. And, they are not internationalized.
And, they do act as a pack, just like some of you do here. When they see Koreans beating up a white guy, they automatically assume that the guy deserved it. And, they may join in, not even finding out the cause.
I am condoning this attitude but it is out there. So be careful. Koreans are still backward people in this respect. Do not anger them unnecessarily.
If an Asian goes to deep South in America, he has to take the same precautions. Do not play loud Korean songs in public transit. Do not unbuckle your belt and re-adjust your pants in public. Do not spit on the sidewalks, even though baseball players do frequently during the game.
Just understand the cultural differences, and adjust accordingly. If you cannot, then it is bad for you and also for Koreans.
I meant “I am not condoning..”, which is very apparent to anyone who is “reading”.
Adjusting buckle thing, for example, can put some Koreans to jail. Just like the GI who put his arm to the wrong place, cultural differences can play devil.
Americans will never understand why Mr. Kim had to undo his buckle in the mass transit in Alabama. They will never understand. Never.
“Buhkan said….[…] Some commenters at the Marmot’s Hole apparently belive the Swiss guys somehow should have known what was going on and just avoided the area. From my perspective, it would have been very easy to wander into an “anti-American protest” and not even realize it until it’s too late. […]”
I agree. This happened to me once in Seoul. I ended up almost in the middle of a huge labor party protest totally by accident just by exiting a dog left side street. Fortunately they were not beating up whiteys for that one but I can see how foreigners who are unfamiliar with the city could stumble into the middle of these things unaware. Especially if they don’t have the bird’s eye view of looking out from an apartment window.
When you are traveling down side streets you’ve never been on and suddenly come upon such a thing, it’s a situation really out of your control. To cast partial blame on them “because they shouldn’t have been there in the first place” (as some have said) is ridiculous and obtuse.
Actually, since no one was hurt, what’s the big deal? Who hasn’t been insulted by Koreans once in a while? Christ, during the abovementioned subway incident period in ‘95 even the punks guarding the U.S. Embassy would ge-seki me as I walked past. It’s part of life in Korea.
I’ve also had to get close to anti-American marching demos, complete with big nose Uncle Sams hanging in effigy, to get where I needed to go and I never noticed anyone paying attention to me (of course, static demos might be a bit dodgier).
WTF are you talking about?
There’s mass transit in Alabama?
Some Koreans feel uncomfortable wearing pants. And, they unbuckle and tuck their shirts back into the pants. Sometimes, you can see the briefs.
Some old guys do this in public and even in the presence of female employees. Surprised me when one guy did this in the office all the time. He could be sued for “sexual harrassment” by female employees.
I was thinking if a guy like that goes to Alabama and does the same thing. He may pull down his pants to tuck his shirts in. Some women in the bus will scream and he will be locked up in a mental hospital. Or, some men will jump him and beat him up so bad that he cannot explain himself to policemen.
All because he felt uncomfy in Alabama heat.
You don’t say, Baduk…
Baduk is creating a hypothetical situation. With that kind of imagination, he would have made a very good reporter for the KT or KH.
You’re right, Wedge. It’s not a big deal. It’s a silly Chosun Ilbo report on foreigners’ reactions/experiences with the big demonstration, highlighting two ‘dumb’ white guys who were saved by a ’smart’ Korean student. Sort of reminds of a lot of American movies about racism, in which the good white guys save black people from the bad white guys.
I think Chosun’s intention was to tell anybody, that those anti-FTA demonstrators are
a) mindlessly violent (which is often true: Korean protesters beating the living crap out of those poor podori-kids as a regular trait))
b) ruining Korea’s image (whatever it is) abroad
c) making unwanted trouble
d) disturbing traffic for Seoulties
e) which leads to the implicated conclusion for the dear Chosun Ilbo readers, that being anti-FTA ain’t that good for Korea (without actually printing it in the above metioned article)
Sorry for the unlucky Swiss guys. Would have wished them a nice time in good old Korea without any street battles with the natives.
Off-topic: I desperately need a preview-function here.
Do you mean “some Koreans” or “some Korean MEN”? I never saw ajummas whip down their drawers to tuck in their shirts.
Maybe you just couldn’t tell the difference?
(Running and hiding now)
Even if they realised there was a protest going on, why should they feel that they would be singled out and attacked because they were foreigners, Nora?
Exactly, Shakuhachi. Why should a Swiss man steer clear of a protest against the US government’s trade policies?
One Trackback
[...] Some commenters at the Marmot’s Hole apparently belive the Swiss guys somehow should have known what was going on and just avoided the area. From my perspective, it would have been very easy to wander into an “anti-American protest” and not even realize it until it’s too late. [...]