Comments on: UN Warns Korea about ‘Ethnocentrism’

By: dda

dda — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:31:03 +0000

thrust a couple of towels on the counter, and huffed, “This won’t take long” while opening his wallet.

/me grabs towels, flings them back, proceeds with checkout.

Actually happened to me, in Korea, with an ajumma, and I seem to remember there were eggs and other breakable items. /Shrugs

By: soondae

soondae — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:38:51 +0000

Racism is alive and well here, unfortunately, but a nation’s economic performance figures in significantly. Sudanese, who are considered Arab, tend to do better the Peshtun Pakistanis, who are not. Koreans are a relatively unknown group here, but this is becoming less and less as the days role on. Anyway you figure it, it sucks.

By: Ledtim

Ledtim — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 22:00:30 +0000

@26

South Africa isn’t better off than Korea economically. Sounds like plain old racism rather than a superiority complex based on economic performance.

By: WangKon936

WangKon936 — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 02:33:49 +0000

# 21,

Yeah, but with Christian fundamentalists I generally don’t fear for my personal safety (unless I work in an abortion clinic…).

By: Maddlew

Maddlew — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 02:33:13 +0000

I’m certainly oversimplifying. People have an aversion to change everywhere. Strange sounds, smells, ways of doing things all piss people off. They like the way things are or were.
But still. I remember that commercial; Lady with fingers immersed in green ooze — “Isn’t dish washing detergent harsh on my skin.” Beautician — “You’re soaking in it.”

By: soondae

soondae — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 02:21:47 +0000

I live in a place where people are ranked according to their nationalities, and their salaries are based on this ranking. For instance, for the same nursing position a Canadian might draw $3500, a South African $2000, a Korean $ 1500, a Filippina $1000 and Indian $500 and a Bangladeshi $250. Not Confucian here, just a superiority complex based on economic performance.

By: Maddlew

Maddlew — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 02:03:46 +0000

This whole homogeneous race thing smacks of a large dose of hooey. Am I to assume that after thousands of years of wars, occupations and forays that the invading and incursional tribes suspended their usual R and P solely in Korea? It would be unprecedented.
I look around at the people here and I see an extraordinary variety of facial features, body types, predisposition to melenin in the skin and I wonder. These groups which have variously stayed on this peninsula never engaged in midnight rendevous out of some sort of respect for the Han race?
Hasn’t it been said that there is a bit of myth to this generated by the government for manipulative purposes?
The xenophobia which undoubtedly exists here as elsewhere, but whose motivation seems to lie in the perception of exceptional blood consistency, would be an incredible case of irony if my suspisions are correct. It would be akin to some sea creature having a fear of water.

By: Herod

Herod — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 01:37:09 +0000

Well said, Hugh!!
The more I see what’s happening in the US, UK, etc, the more I think the Koreans have the right idea.

By: Hugh

Hugh — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 01:28:05 +0000

Of course it would be good for Korean society to become more tolerant of non-Koreans in general and mixed-race citizens in particular.

I wondered about two parts of the report, though. The report urged Koreans “to recognize the multi-ethnic character of contemporary Korean society”.
I think that is wrong. The official figure for foreigner residents in Korea is 530,000. How many of these are ethnic Koreans, from the US or China? And let’s remember these are not Korean citizens, and many stay only a short time, so whether they are members of Korean society is arguable. Anyhow, let’s guess there are about 300,000 illegal foreign workers. And add on maybe 300,000 mixed-ethnicity children.

We are looking at a million people, in a society of 48 million. That gives you 2% non-ethnic Korean, 98% ethnic Korean. Again: “to recognize the multi-ethnic character of contemporary Korean society”

BULLSHIT, I say.

That is asking Koreans to reject factual reality and what is really out there when they open their doors, and “recognize” a particular dogma of multiculturalism currently in vogue in the west.

My second objection is to this part of the report:
“It also remained concerned that migrant workers could only be granted non-renewable, 3-year contracts”.

To forestall straw man attacks, I absolutely believe migrant/foreign workers should receive equitable pay, respectful treatment, a safe workplace and the protection of labour laws.

But that is not what the quote above is about. This basically says Korea should open its doors willy nilly to immigration from anyone who wants to come, and let them stay forever. Korea, with the fourth highest-population density in the world.

BULLSHIT, I say.

I get frustrated about this in debates on immigration back home, too. When did it become a ‘right’ to enter a country and stay forever? When did states’ sovereignty disappear under UN and assorted lefty tsk-tsk’ing? (And I consider myself a working-class lefty, by the way. No sympathy at all for identity-politics lefties, who sneer at the working class every chance they get, but that’s another rant.) When and how did Korea agree to the responsibility (according the UN) to provide permanent jobs to the citizens of Bangladesh, etc.?

Koreans should cherry-pick this report, implement the real issues of actual treatment of non-ethnic Koreans while rejecting multicultural dogma such as the above.

By: tomojiro

tomojiro — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 01:15:16 +0000

#7 Bravo, well said!