Seoul police have rounded up 12 foreign English teachers on charges of violating immigration and employment laws and habitually using drugs such as pot, coke and speed.
If you’re a hater, it’s a virtual smorgasbord of bulletin board material as the arrested include Americans, Canadians and gyopo.
The breakdown is as follows: five U.S. gyopo teachers and two “American” (i.e., not gyopo) teachers were detained, while two U.S. gyopo teachers, one Canadian gyopo teacher, and one “American” teacher and one “Canadian” teacher were booked but not detained.
After all the online fighting between the groups, it’s nice to see Americans, Canadians and gyopo finally get together for something.
In that group is a “Korean-American” couple (green-card holders, actually), identified as the “K” couple, who are accused of opening up an illegal job brokering office in Namyangju and arranged English teaching jobs for a couple of gyopo who had been deported from the United States on gang-related charges. The two then supplied the teachers with speed and other drugs (or so they stand accused). The couple themselves were reportedly deported from the United States on illegal weapon charges.
The family K also forged university diplomas for themselves and their clients. This fine group taught at a middle school in Seoul, a district office and, presumably, students’ homes.
Oddly enough, the couple was booked, but not detained.
Police also booked a racket going on down in Anyang supposedly involving pot and unqualified English teachers.
According to Newsis, police plan to expand their investigations of foreign English teachers and deportees from the United States, believing both groups to have been easily exposed to drug use overseas.
19 Comments
“…believing both groups to have been easily exposed to drug use overseas.”
This is the logic with which the Norks assigned returnees from Japan into the hostile seongbun class. They had been exposed to decadent culture, ergo they needed an eye kept on them.
Who wants to start a pool on when the first ESL instructor will steal a bus?
I wish the Justice Ministry and police forces would get as worked up about traffic violations as they do about drug use. Obviously, the Korean reluctance to involve police authorities doesn’t extend to foreigners. Not that I condone drug use, or believe drug use is a victimless crime. But, I’d bet it’s more dangerous to drive a vehicle or walk across or beside a road in ROK than it is to snort blow.
My question is - since when has the USA ***DEPORTED*** Americans (gypo’s, whitey’s, etc) for gang related charges and drug charges as the article says?
Answer: NEVER.
So are these “Gypo’s” and “Americans” *NOT* Americans? (but rather - came from America - I.E. resident aliens?)
As I understand it, the word gyopo just refers to a Korean raised in a country other than Korea. This does not mean they were a citizen of that country. And, yes, if you are not a U.S. citizen, you can get deported to your country of origin no matter how long you’ve lived there.
When I lived in Georgia, there was a case on appeal before an immigration judge of a woman who was brought to the states at the age of 4 by her mother (they were from Germany). She never pursued citizenship and was deported to a country she couldn’t even remember following a drug conviction.
Also, this doesn’t say much for the stringent requirements required of English teachers in Seoul schools. Couldn’t even a rudimentary background check have turned up the fact that these folks were deported from the U.S. and why?
Agree fully with Left Flank. Got little pity for foreigners getting busted for drugs here, but would like to see more than the annual one-month crackdown for running red lights (don’t care about the same yearly ritual for running red light zones!) and maybe save a few dozen or hundred lives. Not as exciting as busting a few wicked foreigners, but maybe a little more meaningful at the end of the day…
When does a Korean in the US become a kyopo anyway? On arrival? Or does use of the word imply a longer stay?
Some of the pieces have them identified as Korean-Americans, although another points out that at least in the case of the couple, they were permanent residents that were deported after their run-ins with Johnny Law. As far as I know, the United States doesn’t deport citizens for gun and gang-related offenses, so I’ll assume the deportees in question were permanent residents.
As far as when “Korean” stops and “gyopo” starts, I haven’t the faintest idea.
I believe this type of situation, where gyopos falsify and misrepresent their credentials happens regularly here in Korea. Several gyopos have told me their “booking agency” they use to schedule their English lesson appointments have told them to pad their English teaching credentials. e.g., TESOL, TEFL, TESL certifications. None of this is very surprising to me, but hearing what they get paid was surprising. Most gyopos could only rake in W20,000 ~ 50,000/hour, while their Caucasian competition doing the same work makes W50,000 ~ 120,000/hr. Of course for W50,000 in Itaewon you can get a degree from any university you wish, and even graduate with high honors.
Drug usage in Korea? Shocking! Simply shocking!
At least in the U.S., they ought to legalize all forms of drugs, and increase their tax base instead of providing free food, healthcare, education, cable TV, and video games to the lazy f*cks in prison. Hell, they even have pizza days in prisons!
–Remort
Remort,
U.S. prisons should be re-branded as party palaces, because what could be more fun than gang violence, brutality and the chance to be anally raped?
Wheeeeee!
i’m surprised that they were using cocaine. that’s the first time i’ve heard of something other than marijuana, ecstasy or speed.
it sounds like bunch of second-rate korean ganster-wannabies who got thrown out of the US. i would hope they’d stick ‘em in the clink for a while, but guess that’s not on the agenda if they didn’t even detain them.
the first order of business for koreans deported back to korea should be an investigation of why they were deported. i’m confused why there wouldn’t be a file given to the government at the time of deportation.
It’s simple: If they are Korean-ethnic Americans and they do really well in life, they are Korean. If they are Korean-ethnic Koreans who spent more than one minute in America and did anything disgraceful, they are migukgyopo, not Koreans.
BTW–America doesn’t deport Americans, that would be called “exile.” If they got deported, they’re Korean citizens.
migukgyopo, not Koreans.
Jaemi-kyopo, not miguk gyopo.
Jaeil-kyopo, not Il-bun gyopo.
And if one is an Uri-nara-Chosun-minjok-mansei nationalistic purist, or a North Korean:
dongpo, not kyopo.
Man, we need a drunk G.I. to steal at least TWO busses, and maybe even a taxi, to get the focus off of us now!
Shit, SGT. 1st Class Had-Too-Much-Jack Daniels may even need to steal the KTX….
Stupid English teachers.
If you’re especially bored and aching for trouble, grow a beard, wrap yourselves up in some shemaghs and military fatgues, and steal a jetliner!
Psst. Let’s peddle opium to the Koreans. Shh. They won’t even notice the nuclear bombs detonating all around them during the unification.
–Remort
especially good is when The Korea Times ran this story on the front page, they put a huge picture of a good old whitey teaching at a hagwon….despite the fact that the majority of the people in the story were ethnic koreans
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