Just in case you didn’t know, Kathleen Stephens — the next US ambassador to Korea — was an English teacher at Yesan Middle School some 33 years ago with the Peace Corps. Yonhap has some warm and fuzzy stuff about that.
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Could this be a sneaky way of dealing with the fact that English teachers are being unjustly trashed in the Korean media? After all, the odds are pretty high that some US senators and members of congress have relatives who have taught or are presently teaching in Korea.
The odds are more than high. I personally know a then college sophomore whose father was one of California’s reps to the US Congress. She taught privates to a Korean Supreme Court justice.
#2…isn’t that illegal? And to a Korean Supreme Court Justice no less.
#2,
I don’t doubt it. I know children of Canadian ministers who have taught in Korea. I’m also related to high-ranking members of the Canadian government (current and former members). My employer doesn’t know about it, neither did my friends’. So, yeah, when hagwon owners screw over their employees, sometimes they are screwing over Korea, too.
Private tuition was not illegal in the 70’s.
# 1,
I don’t know… there is a WORLD of difference between someone who came with the Peace Corp and a lot of expats who came here for just a steady pay check and a lack of understanding for other cultures and/or unrealistic expectations.
Getting past all of the above tongue-in-cheek humor, she is indeed remarkably qualified for the job.
I knew Kathy when she was in my Peace Corps group (1975~77). Even then she stood out as being remarkably mature and poise for her age, so it surprises none of us who knew her then that she is likely to be the next Ambassador.
Besides serving as a political affairs officer in the Seoul Embassy and later serving as the Busan Consulate General, she served on the Clinton National Security Council staff. She was originally a Sinologist before joining the Peace Corps.
Anyway, she is one of the most qualified nominees to serve in that post ever — even if her first experience in Korea was as a Peace Corps English teacher.