Then there are stories like this:
Regional council members’ angered an international sports goods maker through making sexually explicit gestures during their visit to its headquarters abroad. The politicians quickly tried to explain themselves, claiming “difference of culture” as an excuse, but businessmen in the United States called for an apology and prohibited the council members from visiting them again.
According to the Chosun Ilbo, the incident began when seven members of Gyeonggi provincial council visited the headquarters of the world’s largest sports utilities maker Nike in Portland, USA, early March as part of their efforts to forge ties between Korea and the US. While there, two council members reportedly touched the breasts and private parts of a female statue. Witnesses said they even tried to put their hands in the statue’s crotch while giggling. This left many of the workers there feeling horrified.
Later on, the witnesses complained to the company that the politicians’ behavior was terribly embarrassing. “Half of them were behaving like immature teenagers” one reportedly said.
And I thought those Portland people were supposed to be liberal-minded and multicultural.
(HT to reader)
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29 Comments
I groped the titty of a Javanese statue in a Jakarta dive bar the other night. Not only did I do that, I put my arm around her, gave her a name and asked her if she wanted to come home with me. Had the bar staff and local patrons in stitches for hours, I did.
Frankly, I am unaware of any Korean cultural rule which suggests that it’s okay to make an ass of yourself to your hosts while performing a formal function such as this work-related tour by government officials. Needless to say, a different rule applies to those tossing back some beers in a dive bar on their own time.
These guys are idiots.
Obviously a difference in culture. Don’t tell me people in Portland aren’t familiar with the crotch grab greeting.
Looks like another day where the blog writes itself.
I think they showed great social restraint for out of their element Koreans . I heard no mention of public peeing or projectile spewing on the statue.
Oregon has the lowest percentage of churchgoers in the country, but this just goes to show that even nonbelieving left-liberals in America are at heart fanatical Puritans (described once as the Bolsheviks of the 17th Century).
Maybe the Kyunggi council members had just seen “Borat” and were reenacting scenes from the movie.
Clearly the Kyunggi council members had just watched the movie “Borat” and were merely engaged in satire, intentionally presenting the stereotyped image of the sexually repressed Korean in order to challenge America assumptions.
Portland folks like to *think* they’re wonderfully-liberal… but they ain’t.
As for the Korean men…. I’m surprised/disappointed they only groped a statue. The story would much be better if the guys had their attitudes adjusted by a few female Nike staffers.
I actually believe the guys…that it was a cultural misunderstanding.
Those in the US did not understand that some ajoshis in relatively decent positions think they can do whatever the fuck they want.
Oh wait…that is pretty much the same in western society too.
Liars!
“And I thought those Portland people were supposed to be liberal-minded and multicultural.”
Nah, Nike had to react, otherwise it would have given some unscrupulous (or very scrupulous) employees the opportunity to sue them for having created a harmful work environment (ie. having let these guys in the building).
The Goat @ 10:
I was with you until the fake, stupid equivalency kicked in.
There’s an article somewhere that recounts a young 7-11 worker’s account of the maturity level of ajeoshis.
He says the age of 30 is the peak of maturity, and that it’s a bell curve, ie. that men of 50 have the same level of civility and quality of behaviour as ten-year-old children.
Then again, what do you expect from this bunch?
One hopes that a competent administration in Korea will put an end to this nonsense. There are many hard working people in Korea struggling to get by. Tax money should not fund these overseas junkets. The authorities should punish those officials who waste tax payers money by making them pay for their trips and also contributing an equal amount of money to a local welfare center.
Nike is actually in (ahem) Beaverton (more or less - long story), rather than Portland…
Portland has come a long way since the days when the state government was run by the KKK and Portland was named “the whitest and most racist city west of the Mississippi”… Even so, it’s still pretty white-bread here.
hello?
Korean ajussis + US Marxist political correctness culture = bad juju
The best was in the last sentence of the article.
“… We just made an apology because Nike seemed to want it, that’s all,” a council member said.”
No contrition … ah yes, it was a “cultural difference.”
All the comments about supposedly liberal or multicultural Portland are fucking stupid. This has absolutely nothing to do with liberal attitudes or political correctness.
I know a lot of people that work at Nike in Beaverton, and they have to host groups like this all the goddamn time. Some of them are actually legitimate business interests, but there are also a lot of small groups of politicians from all over the world that take junkets to Nike headquarters for the purposes of a paid vacation, with nothing on their agenda but wandering around looking for Tiger Woods and spending hours at the Nike employee store abusing the 50% discount privilege.
The employees absolutely hate playing tour guide, even with well-behaved groups that act like adults. They see it as a necessary evil, and it’s barely tolerated and a significant source of conflict within Nike because most of the employees see it as a complete waste of time and money with very little benefit. Nike tolerates the junkets in the name of public relations, and groups of Koreans are accepted quite often, largely because Beaverton has the largest cluster of KAs in Oregon.
When you take that as the starting point, and then you add in a bunch of juvenille fucktards who have absolutely no respect for their hosts or decency in general, you can see why the Nike people are pissed off.
Fortunately, problems with Korean groups are rare. Why? Because they’re well-known for showing up, spending all their time at the employee store stuffing cart after cart with “souvenirs,” and then skipping the rest of their meetings and events so they can hit every Korean restaurant and noraebang in Beaverton.
Hey Iheartblueballs:
I’m in Portland right now…me and my friend were wondering where the Korean area is…where can we find it in Beaverton?
Problem is Nike expecting too much from retarded Korean politicans.
Most Koreans would behave a shitload better than this, especially in a foreign country.
These guys are just complete fucking tools.
re #19: There’s not really one distinct centralized location…there’s stuff spread all over. But quite a few restaurants along Hwy 10 (SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy) and Hwy 8 (Canyon Rd), as well as the West Slope area.
There are a few decent places in Portland, including Toji on Hawthorne and Sorabol on Powell.
hope these guys don’t visit “love land” on cheju island. they will probably die from giggling so hard like little school girls.
@12
Bullshit. I experienced it first hand working at a brokerage firm.
There is a relatively old joke…
Q - How do you take a perfectly good man and turn him into an asshole?
A - Put him in a suit and invite a few of his friends.
Mind you, most of this was in a personal context - not during official business.
Doesn’t mention what the government folk got up to that night. These education and learning trips are more about sex tourism than actually learning something. The Nike trip was just a facade for the real business at hand.
The guys who claim “cultural difference” are probably the same ones who will always say “Here is Korea” to any ex-pats they encounter.
Also, what happened to promoting Korea’s national image? Or are they looking to promote a BAD national image?
I can’t help but wonder what would happen if a group of American government employees did the same thing at a Samsung (or the like) factory.
I’m sure there would be screaming about immoral western values a la the crap we hear about English teachers all the time instead of some crap about “cultural differences.”
what the fuck does being “liberal-minded and multicultural” have anything to do with not acting like a pack of jerkoffs?
Absolutely “Sparkling”…
Why would anyone here be surprised? All you have to do is watch Korean TV - or live in the country to see just how immature this culture is compared to the rest of the world.
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