Rough night in Itaewon, apparently:
According to police, a 22-year-old female private with the 2nd Infantry Division was detained at the XO bar at 4:30 a.m. after she threw a bottle at a South Korean woman. The injured woman, 25, was taken to a hospital and received stitches for a 2-inch gash to her forehead.
Police say the soldier bit a responding police officer’s arm and tried to tear off his vest, leaving scratch wounds. She also told police that she was an English teacher, gave them a false name, and, at the police station, broke parts of a fence separating police from detainees, police said.
Oddly enough, police say she was drunk. Another GI, meanwhile, was arrested for — sit down for this — a taxi-related incident.
(HT to Lost Nomad)
But fret not, USFK, the English teachers get theirs, too. NoCut News reports that police have rounded up a number of foreign English teachers (actually, four of ‘em) working on forged degrees. Some of these teachers, it reports, were fired for hitting on female students, rehired, and busted for stalking Korean women.
Yawn.
According to the report, one Canadian in Anyang had been teaching for three years before it was discovered he had a forged university degree. Another Canadian raking it in in Gangnam had only a community college degree and came to Korea after working in a fast food joint. Then we have another Canadian in Gangnam who made hundreds of million of won teaching on a fake degree.
The report pointed out that shady recruiters are passing these teachers off on corporations and schools even though they know they lack the required credentials.
Oh, and then the story brings up the saga of our Australian friend who allegedly threatened his ex-girlfriend with AIDS, although the story this time (according to NoCut News) is he “stalked her with emails and phone calls” because he was angry that she’d found a new boyfriend. The report also says police have detained him and two of the Canadians. The remaining Canuck, meanwhile, was booked but not detained.
NoCut News noted that despite the foreign teacher situation being what it is, countless middle and high school students were studying at language institutes that employ foreigners.
English teachers can at least comfort themselves knowing that they weren’t the only language teachers behaving badly. NoCut News also reports that a French teacher was booked (but not detained) on charges of assaulting a cop at an Itaewon eatery on Saturday night. The 38-year-old Frenchman apparently got angry when establishment owner refused to serve him anymore booze and began breaking glasses. He then assaulted the poor cop who was called to the scene.
Must have been the way the planets were aligned.
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8 Comments
“She also told police that she was an English teacher” so the cops gave her an extra beating….
I saw an MBC news report on teachers with forged degrees yesterday, and they made a big point of showing a tattered university degree and slowly scanning the name for the home viewers–Angus Yates (the aformentioned Australian friend). Is he now in trouble for having a false degree as well, or is it just sloppy journalism?
I’d like to see that Frenchman try the same thing back home… slap slap slap slap
Arg, I meant to post this in the previous Yates-related post… Firefox or Marmot’s ate my post that day so I gave up, thinking “what’re the chances this guy’ll come up again?” Ha… well, someone at eslcafe noticed too.
Check the blacklist over at http://www.kftra.co.kr/ and you’ll see Yates listed in July 2006… I guess the list isn’t very effective, eh? I wonder what he did then? And exactly who is this guy? I doubt the authenticity of the previous response claiming to be Yates… anybody feel like making up another?
Is the arrest of a couple of foreigners with fake degrees really newsworthy? Weren’t 25 Korean hagwon teachers arrested for the same thing in Seoul just a couple of months ago? What about the 120 Koreans who were found last year to have bought fake Russian music degrees that they used to land positions at universities and orchestras?
First the female GI, then Canadian English teachers, and now even a FRENCH teacher? The example set by USFK males appears to be contagious.
Most distressing (except for the French teacher — in his case it’s merely helping him to rediscover his inner Napoleon).
And that thought calls for a drink of Courvoisier or maybe even Hennessy, to celebrate the 4th and the French role in gaining our independence. And isn’t it almost time for another round of fireworks from the North to mark the celebration?
“Is the arrest of a couple of foreigners with fake degrees really newsworthy?”
The Korean media would appear to think so.
“Weren’t 25 Korean hagwon teachers arrested for the same thing in Seoul just a couple of months ago? What about the 120 Koreans who were found last year to have bought fake Russian music degrees that they used to land positions at universities and orchestras?”
Yes, totally true. But seemingly they weren’t as titillating stories as one involving foreign teachers, Korean women, stalking, etc. The fake degree angle is a means for some of these reports to jump to juicier parts - details not at all related to the original subject of academic qualifications/certifications - of the story. I’m not sure that the fake degree angle is what elicits the strongest emotional reaction from viewers, netizens, etc.
Any organization which hires someone without first verifying that person’s offered credentials deserves what it gets. Applicants provide diplomas, professional licenses, and professional and personal references in addition to a list and short description of work history. If employers fail to perform the vetting process, then they have only themselves to blame when employees are not what they claim.
These days, E-2 visa applicants must provide sealed academic transcripts which have been sent directly from the academic institution to the employer. The employer is supposed to work on submitting the application. If this step is avoided by the employer, however, then it has abrogated any usefulness this practice was set up to insure that applicants meet the qualifications.
There have always been individuals who lie about their backgrounds, whatever the profession, but the real criticism/culpability should rest with those institutes and schools which fail to act responsibly, for they have the ability to stop these liars from reaching the classrooms.
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