Yonhap reports that Koreans are getting the warm fuzzies after reading how two US soldiers helped rescue three Koreans following a car wreck in Wonju. Unfortunately, Yonhap learned of it only because they read it in Stars and Stripes. Out of curiosity, I wonder if this is a report taken of the same accident.
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48 Comments
I wonder…coincidence or proof that the editorial content of Korean newspapers reflects government policy?
Yonhap carrying a story like that must be initial evidence of a new sheriff in town.
Pres Roh (to Yonhap director): “What the h**l am I reading here?! I thought I told you to never carry stories that put USFK in a good light! You’re fired!”
Yonhap director: “Err, Mmhh. Actually, Mr. President, YOU’RE fired!”
“And the fact that other people just kept driving by the site and didn’t offer assistance “motivated me to keep helping them.””
Other people just kept driving past the totally destroyed car with bleeding bodies hanging out of the window. Oh yeah, sure. that could happen anywhere. Koreans are just as kind as other people.
Not when it comes to being good Samaritan I disagree.
Koreans normally just want to mind their business and get to where they are going.
“And the fact that other people just kept driving by the site and didn’t offer assistance “motivated me to keep helping them.””
I saw a kid try to cross a freeway on a bicycle once, and get pummeled by a taxi driver in front of me, travelling at 100 km/h. I’m no good Samaritan, but I had to get off my motorbike and offer assistance. Turns out the taxi driver and another driver were arguing about who was responsible, while I was the only one who was helping the kid out, just holding his hand and telling him “kenchanayo.” For the next 20 minutes, nobody stopped, and the two men were just yelling at each other. I know Korea is very community-oriented, but I can’t understand this mentality. I guess people in Seoul are just too high-strung or work-oriented and would rather be on time for their boss.
By the way, being a good Samaritan shouldn’t merit any recognition. In fact, in France you can be sued for NOT stopping to help someone out (in French it’s called “non-assistance d’une personne en danger”).
(This is why Princess Diana’s paparazzi were convicted by French courts).
“By the way, being a good Samaritan shouldn’t merit any recognitionl…”
Neither should it be the cause of getting sued. In your example, what would have happened had you seen the need to apply CPR and the kid had subsequently expired? Isn’t it possible (even probable) that the taxi driver would then have tried to blame you for the kid’s death?
I assume an essential corollary of the French “Good Samaritan” law is that it provides reasonable protection against being sued for good faith attempts to help (within the limits of what a reasonable person could be expected to do). But not all sovereign jurisdictions have such a law. Does anyone know what the law says in ROK?
The good Samaritan law protects the rescuer, actually. Canadian and American law does not obligate anyone from providing help unless a person is directly responsible for the safety of the victims (such as in a patient-doctor, child-parent relationship).
When I took first aid, we were thought that you just don’t get involved if someone else appears to be in control of the situation. There are very simple practical reasons for that. What’s better, two guys who know what they are doing administering first aid or two guys trying to treat the victims with 50 people getting in the way? Since I know first aid, I would have slowed down, assessed the situation to see if I the victims were in danger, were being treated, and, more importantly, if I would be putting myself in danger. I’ve stopped a few times, but most often I just called the police.
Boshintang, en fait loi française préfère parler “d’abstention volontaire de porter assistance à une personne en péril”. Ce n’est pas le fait de ne pas agir qui est condamnable. Il faut que la personne aille connaissance du danger, qu’elle soit capable d’agir, et que l’action ne présente pas un danger à elle ou aux autres. Mais, il y a des limites.
“La loi n’oblige pas les gens à se conduire en héros. Ainsi, l’omission d’appeler les secours est souvent l’infraction la plus reconnue. L’omission d’agir pour la protection de la victime n’étant retenue que dans les cas où le secouriste possède des connaissances particulières.”
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/N.....isprudence
Correction…we were ‘taught’…Sorry, it’s 7 am.
Quick translation/explanation:
In France, it’s not the fact that a person does not provide assistance that consists a failure to meet his or her legal obligations…a person must have been aware of the danger, must have be capable of providing help, and must not have presented a danger to himself or herself and others by their actions. But, there are limits to the law. For one, the law does not force citizens to act as heroes. When a person is held criminally responsible by the courts for not providing first aid it’s generally because they had special qualifications (doctors, nurses, etc).
Paul H, if I did not have CPR training (which I do), I wouldn’t be held responsible for the child’s death. However, I could be held responsible for not calling 911.
SomeguyinKorea,
I’m not going to judge your French, but I will say you seem to be picking and chosing from French law.
Art. 223-6:
Quiconque pouvant empêcher par son action immédiate, sans risque pour lui ou pour les tiers, soit un crime, soit un délit contre l’intégrité corporelle de la personne s’abstient volontairement de le faire est puni de cinq ans d’emprisonnement et de 100 000 euros d’amende. Sera puni des mêmes peines quiconque s’abstient volontairement de porter à une personne en péril l’assistance que, sans risque pour lui ou pour les tiers, il pouvait lui prêter soit par son action personnelle, soit en provoquant un secours.
…and yet just under it.
“Cette obligation d’agir est renforcée dans deux cas :
* dans le cas des professions médicales et paramédicales, outre le Code pénal, le Code de la santé publique précise…
* l’article 121-1 du Code pénal prévoit qu’il y a délit en cas de « manquement à une obligation de prudence ou de sécurité prévue par la loi ou le règlement, s’il est établi que l’auteur des faits n’a pas accompli les diligences normales compte tenu, le cas échéant, de la nature de ses missions ou de ses fonctions, de ses compétences ainsi que du pouvoir et des moyens dont il disposait. »
”
Me picking and choosing? How ironic.
Quick translation:
The law is enforced in two cases:
1) When the person is a medical professional.
2) When, according to article 121-1 of the penal code, the person has not acted in accordance to his or her competence to do so or by using the means that were available for him or her to do so.
In other words, don’t give CPR to someone if you don’t have a clue how to do it. Better yet, call the cops… if you are capable of using a phone, that is.
Reread the last sentence of the law you quoted, the one that states a person must either provide help directly or by calling for help if that’s not clear enough for you.
Judge my French, you say? Sottise.
PS. The first half of the article you quoted is about preventing a crime or an accident, not helping after the fact. Reread…”Quiconque pouvant empêcher par son action immédiate, sans risque pour lui ou pour les tiers, soit un crime, soit un délit contre l’intégrité corporelle de la personne”. The key word here is ‘empêcher’ (prevent).
lol Someguy, I said I wouldn’t judge your French, but since you asked for it… First of all, who ever uses the word “sottise”? I’d like to think you speak another dialect, but what dialect doesn’t even use articles? (la loi, not loi…) It’s difficult debating French law with someone who hasn’t fully mastered the language yet.
Enfantillage, sottise, baliverne…
Peut-importe, j’aurais tout aussi bien pu écrire des grossièretés. Aurais-tu mieux aimé je t’aie traité de con ou peut-être je t’aie dit d’aller te faire enculer? Ah, je le sais! Tu voulais que je te dise d’aller manger de LA merde, oui?
Alors, tu vois, j’essayais d’être gentil.
I haven’t mastered the language yet? Whatever, nitpick on one typo and the fact that I was trying to be polite while at the same time you ironically misinterpreted the article that I posted.
lol Once again your French is riddled with errors (and not typos). If you’re interested, I do give French lessons.
You’re so full of it. Two typos, one I inserted to test you and another that was made out of sarcasm. For someone who supposedly gives French lessons, you sure don’t read it well, nor do you appear to be able to write it very well either. Admit it, you are neither French nor in France and Babelfish was probably your French teacher.
So about the topic….
Hahaha Someguy, thanks for writing in English, good idea!
Actually yes, I am in France (notice the French flag), but you’re correct, I’m not French. I just lived here until 19. As far as babelfish goes, I’ve heard of that site, but I’ve never actually used it. Now I know the source of your French errors. You see, computers still aren’t able to translate texts quite like actual people yet. As far as I know.
I am going to give you a few French tips here, normally I charge 90,000 won starting fees, but since you are a VIP MH member, it will be free.
- Enfantillage, sottise, baliverne (never used)
- Peu-importe, not peut-importe (peu is “little” peut is “can”)
- Aurais-tu mieux aimé QUE je te traites de con (also subjunctive is on “traiter” and not “avoir”)
- ou peut-être je t’aie dit d’aller te faire enculer? (again missing “si” or “que” after peut-être) i.e. peut-être si je t’avais dit d’aller te faire enculer. (notice construction of sentence must also be rearranged).
My suggestion is that we stick to English.
Now, back to the topic…
All this French is making me horny.
Sorry.Off topic.
French has long been an archaic language for dirty hookers, wig-wearing faggots and nubile virgins. Not hard to figure which one you two are.
Perhaps swlee, but it comes in handy.
#18,
Enfantillage (30300 resultats a Google), sottise (147000 resultats), et baliverne (15200 resultats)… Oui, si tu le dis. Personne au Canada utilise de la ‘glue’, alors ce n’est pas un mot Francais?
Peu-importe. Bravo, tu l’as trouve.
Que et si…Petites fautes d’inattention, c’est tout.
Stick with English? T’es un petit comique, toi.
Coming from someone who uses tons of English loan words when he speaks in French? Good one.
#21,
boshintang is just being an ass because he knows us French Canadians tend to think of Frenchmen as being, well, less than masculine.
lol Lighten up man. Just take some French lessons. (ps - like I said, I’m not French)
boshintang,
Je m’amuse, c’est tout. Alors, sans rancune, d’accord.
J’aime bien avoir eu la chance d’ecrire encore en peu en Francais. Tu sais, mon Francais est impeccable, du moins il l’etait encore avant que je vienne habiter en Coree. Tu sais, ce n’est pas facile de garder sa langue maternelle lorsqu’on habite a l’etranger. T’enseigne le Francais en Coree? Si oui, je te plein.
Correction…”d’accord?”
Ah, fuck. Tu sais, tu sais, tu sais…repetitive.
Take French lessons…Oh, tes conseilles a la gomme…tu sais ou te les mettres.
Plaint, pas plein…et “mettres”?
pour une fois je suis d’accord avec toi, c’est vrai que si on pratiques pas la langue, ca s’oublies. D’ailleurs j’etais toujours tres nul en cours de francais, c’est pour cela que ca m’amuses beaucoup quand tu me demandes si je suis prof de francais. J’avoues que moi meme je fais beaucoup de fautes en francais, mais au moins que j’utilises pas des mots comme “sottise!”
Maintenant que tu as finalement ecris en francais…Bof, c’est tout? Ca serait mentir si je disais que je suis impressione (oui, j’le sais, cette phrase est un anglicisme). Je m’attendais a quelque chose de mieux. T’es certainement loin d’etre Victor Hugo. Sottise est encore utilise au Canada…du moins par mon pere.
Hélas, Unmecencorée, je ne suis ni Victor Hugo ni Molière! Un simple banlieusard de la région parisienne qui connaît bien la racaille et les keufs, oui. Ma specialité c’est crâmer des bagnoles en plein cité - dis-moi, où est-ce que tu te gares?
maybe dda can settle it.
quite possibly the wankiest comments section ever. i don’t speak an ounce of french so maybe someone can translate it for me lest i mess it up and end up with 10 replies criticizing my frog grammar. lol.
#33,
En Coree, bien sure. Je suis Canadien, mais pas Quebecois.
#34,
Nothing to settle, but dda and Bighomonid are more than welcome to join in.
#35,
Ah, come on. It can’t be worse than Pawi going off on schizophrenic rant about ‘expats’.
I haven’t had such a good laugh in a long time by reading two francophone contributors engaging in a very French trait: oneupmanship.
As the Irish say, “Is this a private fight, or may anyone join in?” And to quote from Monty Phython’s Holy Grail, “I fart in your general direction!”
Just another frog pissing contest in the Hole.
May I make the observation that despite the large presence of Korean speakers here, most of whom are non-native, I’ve never seen a us whip our dicks out and start a discourse in Korean, I suspect out of fear that we would start critiquing each others use of articles and insist the other hasn’t properly studied the language. . .
I would predict”pain” along with many bruised egos . . .
i think you guys should do what captbbq says. Write in hangul, and trade barbs.
my French is limited to highschool French.
Truly, truly, truly, only found use for it rarely.
Personally, for enjoying movies and music or watching the French news on tv and appreciating the French woman anchor, who seems to have a long half life.
Do the people of Quebec watch French news the way Koreans in US watch South Korean news?
may I ask why?
“Do the people of Quebec watch French news the way Koreans in US watch South Korean news?”
Not at all. French language entertainment and news in Canada is almost entirely homegrown. Remember, the French were relieved of New France by the British in 1763. (The French language was only codified in France about two decades later.) If you think about it, few Americans look to their former colonial masters for their TV programming.
Anyway, interesting topic - well, at least for a bilingual Canadian as myself - but how did this thread manage to stray so far from the story of the good GIs?
I’ve always tried to encourage students of mine to speak and write in English, regardless of whether or not they happen to be fluent. Making an effort should count for something. The best way to improve is to take risks, make a few mistakes, and learn from them. Criticizing others about their grammar, spelling, or use of a particular variety of a language - especially on an informal forum such as this - is kind of lame. Whether or not French is appreciated and/or understood by Marmot’s Hole readers is another matter.
#43,
Nah, it’s not lame. It’s just good clean and fun. My French is a bit rusty, so it’s refreshing to be able to write about something else in French but the banalities of life in Korea (don’t imagine that my mother would appreciate it if I dropped a ‘tabarnak’ here and there).
PS. Go Habs go!
Correction…good clean fun.
Several times shakuhachi and I have busted out and engaged some of the Korean commenters in Korean, but that’s been awhile now.
#46,
Okay, I throw down my glove.
바~보!!!!!
Uhhh….annyeonghasseyo?
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