Lisa Vershbow has been the target of, ahem, critical opinion by netizens regarding her activities here in Korea.
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Netizens give U.S. ambassador’s wife hell
This entry was written by Robert Koehler, posted on September 21, 2006 at 9:29 am, filed under IT Korea, Stupid Foreigner Tricks and tagged The Netizens. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
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29 Comments
KT taking exception on Koreans copying? tsk tsk tsk
Whoa, the KT breaks the story of the year and the other papers cravenly follow. KT writers have been caught out at least twice in the last couple of years for outright plagiarism, so tsk tsk as DDA says.
Yawn . . . I guess this makes the ambassador’s wife just as sneaky as the guy I chased off last night who was running around the neighborhood, putting stickers all over everything in sight, oh wait, that *was* his job, right?
(I guess the KT will start rummaging through garbage for stories next . . .)
Mrs Vershbow, breaks a law that actually causes no-one any harm or grief. She should be severley punished!!!!. Just like, bus drivers who run red light are severley punished, chaebol heads who steal billions are severley punished, useless police commisioners who turn a blind eye to police incompetence and corruption are severley punished, Korean journalists who inflame racuial bigotry are severley punished. So the AVERAGE everyday Korean (that is virtually everyone) who owns a lethal weapon ( a car weighing over one ton) and drives in a criminaly negligent fashion, totally oblivious to crippling or killing others is now taking the moral high ground.
Hypocracy er.. I mean Confusionism at its best.
Rapists, and child molesters and thieves are forgiven by ‘Kind’ Korean people if the bow scrape, grovel and apologize enough. Maybe Mrs VershBOW should do the same. If she does will the ‘Kind’ Korean people forgive her just like they forgive their fellow criminal brothers
Wait until KCNA picks up the story of this clumsy capitalist crime against the dignified fatherland.
although it might look like it sometimes, “virtually everyone” does not own a car in Korea. as to the dig against Koreans for their collective driving habits, that in itself is a typically racist (and overdone) commentary.
AngryC, the average Korean driver is a menace–Korea has one of the highest traffic accident death rates among OECD nations, year after year. Ain’t nothing racist about it.
i heard they drive like shit in Taiwan, too.
Anyway, what’s up with the US tobacco co’s funding anti smoking ads in the US, while exporting the same stuff to Asia without the message? I guess they had to feed the Carolinas one way or the other. There’s a reason why there is foreign overreaction over petty mattters.
That makes absolutely no sense.
Much like the lady in question, I am an artist living in Seoul whose husband’s job brought me here. No doubt I will sell some of the art, even have a show and perhaps be in a gallery. In America I did have to pay taxes on those earnings but as I worked out of my home and employed no one I did not have to have a business license, though the galleries I showed with did have to have business licenses.
Obviously I have no wish to land in legal trouble in Korea, nor embarrass my husband and of course I have to pay American taxes on any earnings made here in Korea too. Any idea on what type of business license or visa stamp is needed to be an artist legally in Korea? Any advice would be appreciated.
MountainSong
You gotta give a call to Mr. Carr. hehe
Spouses of foreign investors — and of diplomats and Korean citizens — are automatically eligible for a residence permit, which is not a “work visa”. However, holders of a residence permit have a somewhat easier time of things since they just need to get an endorsement on their current visas. An endorsement is a lot easier.
One wishing to work in Korea needs to register as a foreign investor (bring W50,000,000 or more of savings to Korea as “investment capital), and therefore sponsor one’s own work visa, or otherwise get a job with someone else who can sponsor the visa. But if someone else sponsors the visa, the foreigner is essentially tied to that one sponsor. Better to bring over your capital and be classified a “foreign investor”. Truthfully speaking, there are a lot of Indian, Pakistani, and African foreign investors here who I believe have all registered the same investment capital multiple times, paying a fee to the “Bank of bin Laden” informal banking system for temporary use of W50,000,000.
MountainSong, here’s some very non-legal advice: go for it. I know a lot of foreigners who have sold work in galleries here and no one said boo. The art market isn’t exactly strictly regulated.
Also, US citizens can earn up to $80,000 a year tax free overseas.
Thank you folks for your input, I suspect the Ambassadors wife got pointed out for a combination of political and financial reasons, perhaps was even made an example of. She made a pile while in the gallery for just two weeks, enough to raise more than a few eyebrows.
I’m here on an A3 SOFA visa which must be renewed at the end of the year, perhaps that is a good time to try to get an additional stamp which allows me to sell legally in Korea. In America as essentially a vendor/wholesaler artists were not required to have business license specifically (unless they owned a gallery), though we did need Tax Id’s and of course to claim gains and losses on income tax. Coming up with W50,000,000 or more in savings is not likely to happen as artists tend by their nature to be starving at least financially speaking. Still there must be some way….
In the U.S. a self-employed artist is considered more like a service sector worker, unless you mean someone who incorporates and basically owns their own business.
Unless you’re really prolific in Korea I don’t think you fall under “vendor/wholesaler.”
I’ve never heard of a foreigner getting an additional stamp to sell things here–Mr. Carr mentioned getting an endorsement, maybe he will elaborate on that.
I still say just take your work to a gallery and have a show and let the dealer sort it out. A lot of foreigners here have done that. If you get busted though don’t blame me
No Michael, I meant freelance artists -works from home, not a graphic artist with a firm or a contract artist or an artist working under grants.
Some freelance artists do incorporate particularly if it’s their main source of income and they are head of household. But many who make under $X amount a year, and have a ‘day job’ just claim proceeds under ‘other income’ on tax forms, as one would selling a car, or having a yard sale or some other small windfall of money.
After writing ‘stamp’ I realized that ‘endorsement’ was the appropriate word. No edit button though.
I do hope Mr. Carr will elaborate; I did google it, but the answers remains unclear, it looks like the endorsements can’t be made from in-country and must be applied for from one’s home country in advance of coming to Korea.
P.S I like the current skin the best of the last 5 - nice and clean.
Basing your decisions about what you can and can’t do under US law is a recipe for getting pantsed. Under the laws of KOREA, foreign residents of Korea without specific permission to work or operate a business in accordance with the Immigration Act can earn up to $0 tax free.
To the best of my knowledge, SOFA personnel cannot get an endorsement for additional economic activities outside the confines of the base if those activities are in any way “profit- (read: revenue) making”.
An “endorsement” to a visa is a different beast from the visa itself; think of it like an additional permission. While most visas (except for D-7/D-8 investor visas, and F-2 spouse visas) cannot be issued in Korea but must be processed at a consulate or Embassy overseas, an endorsement to an already-issued visa is handled by application to the Ministry of Justice through the hated Mok-dong Immigration Bureau.
Thank you Mr. Carr for elaborating. So it’s off to the dreaded Ministry of Justice for me in an attempt to avoid the difficulties my fellow country woman ran into. While being predominantly right brained leads to great artistic endeavors it often leaves creative types with a shrunken left hemisphere to grapple with comprehending perplexing legalities – so thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.
I had my staff check on SOFA status personnel and visa endorsements. In most cases, SOFA dependents can get permission to take a job on the economy (an endorsement in visa status E-2 or E-7 usually), but cannot be self-employed outside the confines of the base except in the case that the dependent otherwise qualifies as a foreign investor — i.e., brings W50,000,000 investment or working capital to Korea from offshore. (This is the same for all foreigners, not just SOFA personnel.)
We specifically raised your issue by reference to Mrs. Vershbow’s situation. With respect to exhibiting in a gallery, a foreigner otherwise lawfully present in Korea (as in the case of your SOFA status) won’t need a work visa for exhibition of works. Only if you sell any of those works for cash or otherwise trade for value would you need a work visa or an endorsement to your current A-3 visa.
The long and the short of it is, if unable to qualify as a foreign investor, a person holding a residence permit will not be able to get permission to operate an independent business in Korea regardless of how small or marginal it is. Don’t waste your time making the trip to Mok-dong.
Obviously, the Korean netizens that were quoted in the article don’t understand the principles of diplomatic immunity and reciprocity.
Brendon, you are a doll for giving valuable legal advice for free over the internet to a stranger.
Mountainsong, are you sure you have to pay US taxes on earnings from sales made in Korea? Doesn’t the $70,000 exemption apply to you?
Sonagi, your right, Mr. Carr is a Doll (gentleman) for helping another to understand the intricacies of legalities in another country, no doubt he does understands the karmic laws of reciprocity or said in another way - he has a heart of gold based on innate goodness which holds an even purer value ounce per once. I doubt few of us on the board would give less when called upon within our field of expertise to help another with less comprehension. It is after all the thing which separates us from the animals.
Ooops - inadvertent segue from another online conversation.
Yes, the exemption as I understand it, would apply to me if I were filing separately and not jointly with my husband – certainly a due consideration should the current circumstances be successfully overcome.
Mr. Carr, it would seem that despite several decades as a self supporting artist in the innovative West, the ancient European practice of seeking a Patron might suddenly be called for, given the challenge of Korea’s current laws pertaining to SOFA visa’s and self employment. ($W50,000,000) *sigh*
The irony of the collision of cultures in the Global Economy both past and present and East and West is not lost, and were I an artist inspired by current social commentary the moment would be preserved in pigments.
Thank you to you and your staff for your assistance and knowledge. Armed with that knowledge a solution, requiring no doubt both flexibility and acceptance on my part, will be found to reach a legally acceptable solution.
Mr. Carr,
Lisa Vershbow, according the Embassy, is applying for a visa endorsement in order to continue selling her jewelry. Do you believe will she have to make a visa run?
No, Lisa Vershbow won’t have to make a “visa run”. First off, she’s the wife of the United States ambassador and Korea is a country where things work out better for the important and the powerful, regardless of what the law says. But the law is favorable anyway: As the holder of a residence permit (A-2) visa she only needs an endorsement to the current visa — an additional stamp or permission.
Mr. Carr,
Thank you. You have mentioned several times the visa opportunity individuals have if they are “foreign investors.” It seems unlikely that Mrs. Vershbow would bring $50,000 to Korea. If that’s the case, what sort of endorsement would the government extend her? I understand E-6 is for entertainers and artists, but would that entail a sponsor? And who might that be on an ongoing basis?
“Entertainers and artists” — the E-6 visa category — means performing artists (also including thinly-disguised prostitutes), as far as I know. But since bona fide artists are tied with English teachers as the least likely to be paying for legal services, I haven’t delved very deeply into the topic.
If an artist intends to sell her jewelry as an independent businesswoman, on the face of the law the only means available is registration as foreign investor, adoption of a corporate form or sole proprietorship, and taxpayer registration. Otherwise she can sign up to be someone’s employee.
Now, I have been witness to the rare “miracle” where some Korean government official chucks the book of rules and, figuring he’s unlikely to be caught out, does something surprising and exceptional and utterly in contravention of the written law. Those cases are maddening because they are so unpredictable.
Mr. Carr,
Thank you again. In an effort to try your patience, I’m left with one further point. Tim Strong, the husband of Jane Coombs, New Zealand’s ambassador to South Korea, asserts he has official permission to work this coming weekend. But he complains that each concert involves another application for a permit under a new sponsor. Could Mrs. Vershbow in theory receive sponsorships unique to each gallery exhibition, yet also acceptable to the goverment? What visa endorsement would Mr. Strong receive? I assume because he resides in Korea his circumstances differ from an appearance in Korea by Celine Dion, Michelle Wie or any international performer.
I don’t have any idea what permission Tim Strong has. If he wants to call me and talk it over I’d be delighted to see what I can learn from him. My guess is, since you say he is a musician and has a sponsor for each performance, that Tim Strong gets an E-6 endorsement on his diplomatic visa valid for the duration of each performing engagement.
Costume jewelry may not qualify as “art” for purposes of the E-6 visa. Again, I don’t know. (I did see a photograph of the stuff Mrs. Vershbow was wearing, and I would hesitate to call it “art” myself, or “jewelry” for that matter. But tastes differ.) So for Mrs. Vershbow the Tim Strong Experience™ may not be germane.
For MountainSong, however, it seems to be right on target. Find a gallery sponsor, apply for the additional endorsement on a per-show basis, then rake in the pennies (gallery owners are not known for their generosity of spirit).
Update: Yesterday I spent some time at the Foreigner Information Services Department in City Hall and have learned this. It may not work for showing in art galleries (with an A3 SOFA Visa) but it does work for single event venues such as a performers or artists doing a show and making a profit from it. E-6, D-4, D-5 visa’s are not necessary for this.
1. One needs a contract between the performer and an official from place (sponsor?) where the event will be held stating that permission is given and the length and date/s of the event.
2. One needs a copy of the Business license of the place which is hosting the event.
3. Then one takes that information along with $60,000 won and their passport to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and get’s a Reference (endorsement?) from them which permits the Event.
Presumably one does this for each event one participates in as the permission granted is for a single specific event only. If one were to show often and regularly this may not be an acceptable solution obviously.
Hmmm, just read your comment Mr. Carr. It looks like we’ve landed in the same place in our current understanding of Korean law in this issue.
It’s unlikely I’ll pursue the gallery route in Korea, as it’s likely to be a lot of hassle for little return. There are other routes which are likely to be more effective here for continuing my career legally in Korea.
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