Brian discusses his travails following an alleged incident of cyber-aggression.
Quite an ugly tale, with a number of cautionary elements to it.
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Brian’s Troubles in Jeolla-do
This entry was written by Robert Koehler, posted on July 3, 2008 at 9:21 am, filed under Ministry of Barbarian Affairs. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
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28 Comments
Boring. to tears.
Moral of the Cautionary Tale: Find a better hobby, Brian.
Brian seems to enjoy the drama.
And learn Korean.
douchebag. everyone has gripes about korea but fuck, go out and enjoy life. don’t fucking dwell on every minute details of every fucking wrong someone did to you. take the stick out of your ass and enjoy life. you’re in a foreign land and all you do is talk shit about it…what the hell do you expect from emotional and nationalistic koreans? i wish korea was more like the west, but it isn’t. deal with it. you think running a blog or writing to the koreatimes will make a difference for the better? yeah, talking shit about koreans will open koreans’ eyes. right. dumbass.
To quote:
Go to Alabama and start complaining about people flying the Confederate Flag in a local periodical and see how fast “retaliation” is all over you and the publication.
This isn’t unique to Korea, and if you want to state your opinion in a free society (in publication) you have to realize that others are going to take exception to it.
Westerners are far more accustomed to foreigners than Koreans. We’re never going to get them seeing things “our way”.
agree with pretty much everything that has been said and would add…
Everytime I see a post like this one, where the guy who has been “wronged” recounts every minute detail so as to prove how he has been ill-treated by the Koreans proves rather how little the same person understands how Korean society works.
This situation sucks for Brian, no doubt about that. But my suggestion, not unlike those above, is two-fold: don’t put yourself in that situation and move on. Why? Because some things just aren’t worth it.
Laugh it off, Brian. They are the world’s clowns. The difference is you can get out and they can’t. And in the final analysis that’s why they’re bitter and insecure.
OK, but to be fair to Brian, regardless of what you think of his blog or articles, what was done to him might be legally actionable (at least in a civil case) — not just against the individuals who did the posts, but also against the blog host and portal site:
http://news.naver.com/main/rea.....0002004485
Or to put this a different way, it’s not a question of making Koreans see it “our” way. In fact, as explained here and elsewhere, slander and privacy laws are quite different in Korea. It’s a question of protecting your rights under the law.
(Most) points taken. And it’s definitely time to forget this and move on, and thankfully most of this mess is finished. Like I mentioned several times, the problem isn’t that I feel “wronged” because somebody *gasp* disliked my opinion. I’m not bewildered that Koreans might not like an outsider commenting on their—and our—issues, and I’m not stupefied that a few of my posts and articles will be considered controversial to many Korean readers.
The posts are timely though because we’re seeing a lot of netizen activity, and my situation might be of some interest to other foreigners. Reporting everything in minute detail, as you put it, is not a miserable attempt to prove that I’m right, or something, or but was just to show that this netizen guy was not some random kid in a PC room. You’re more than welcome to skip posts you don’t like or find “boring to tears” and spend more time trolling the boards and contributing nothing of value. Because that’s really interesting.
*points at US immigration figures. Not quite right*
The comments here are quite amazing. Basically you are legitimizing attacks on those with a different point of view (and the balls to express them).
And the “it’s worse in ____” is one of the most pathetic cop-outs ever…
Similar bad treatments (and much worse) are happening to Koreans who are speaking up against the candle light. They even trashed and assaulted people from a respected news organization. I hope this doesn’t just go into foreigners versus Korean thing.
I’m with the Marmot on this. Protect yourself, and make the police/judiciary in this country more accountable for their (in)action. Furthermore, a very good way for Korea to integrate with the world would be to be more understanding of other points of view. That being said, I’ve been reading Brian’s blog for a fairly long time and it is most certainly guilty of almost unremitting negativity. Life in rural Jeolla-do is stark and occasionally difficult to deal with, but it is not that bad (can someone italic my “that”?)…
Although I may question the wisdom of Brian writing such articles in a hypersensitive, low-esteem country, should we be slagging the guy for telling the truth? I don’t think so.
Anyway, good luck to him and not a few Koreans who are running up against the self-appointed nutizen thought police.
Well done Brian for having the balls to express a solid opinion. The “teachers” at your school sound like they fit right in to the Korean “education” system. The person who read and distributed private emails should be fired at least.
Good luck Brian!
#8
“(at least in a civil case)”
I see it quite the opposite, he should file a criminal complaint at the court. If the cops won’t do anything, then appeal and the case will go to a Prosecutor. Don’t expect the Prosecutor to do anything though. Yes, quite obviously we are discriminated against in Korea.
Unfortunately, the law authorities don’t give a shit about crimes committed against us either. Christ, they don’t even care when Korean women are beaten and raped by their Korean husbands. For a civil case he will have to show in detail money out of pocket lost due to any action(s). What money has he lost so far?
I sympathise with Brian. I’ve written several artciles in the Gwangju News, most happy, or at least harmless to local sensibilities (You might have read the one on North Korea, Brian). But I also wrote one about a friend of mine who was beaten to within an inch of his life by a group of Koreans in downtown Gwangju a few years back. He was folowed, harrased, knocked out, then repeatedly kicked in the head until he suffered a brain haemorrage. The local paper ran an article on it, describing it as a brawl, in which a bunch of drunk foreigners (there were 2 guys and 2 girls there at the time) attacked some Koreans, even going so far as to single out and assault some inocent bystanders who happened to be trying to stop it. The article was obscene, so far from the truth it was criminal, but he newspaper would not retract it, instead blaming the local cops for a distorted police report.
The first point is the Gwangju News provided an alternative point of view. That’s an important thing. Brian’s articles might not be popular, but that’s no reason to shut him down. It’s a mark of a mature media outlet/country/democracy, that those sort of opinions are at least allowed to be published.
The second point is that you probably won’t find any support from Cholla cops, Brian, cyber department or otherwise, once they figure out the angles.
At the end of the day, you’ll not change some of the prevailing attitudes down here, and probably shouldn’t bother trying. As some of the others have said, at times it’s better to just let things slide - there’s too much to enjoy hereabouts without having to worry about goggle-eyed nationalists and nutjob netizens - and your livelihood.
The GN is always going to be a milksop leaflet - let it be. Foreigners get the real news from places like this. Plainly, you’re a good writer, and reasonably prolific. Buy yourself a domain instead of using your blobspot space and move into the blosphere big-league instead. I’m sure Robert will appreciate the competition
Good luck!
No, I’m not after a civil case, but rather just intersted in bringing charges through the police (whatever that entails). Just interested in seeking the penalty typical of cases like this. Yeah, yeah, I know let’s be cynical and say nothing will come of it, but it’s important to try.
#17
Don’t you think going to the Civil Affairs Office with documents is better than sending documents through the mail? Actually the Civil Affairs Office is your last stop.
You should make it official and file at the criminal court. After the official “not guilty” document you receive from the police, you have 10-30 days to appeal. The court might send you registered mail, the police probably won’t. The postman will try to deliver to you for your signature, you have three days to receive or pick up the mail but you can call the postman for the best result.
The police is just one step in the process. After you appeal the decision by the police and the case goes to the Prosecutor who decides whether to prosecute, you should meet with the Prosecutor if you can to explain to him how important it is to you that the criminal is punished for his crime(s). The Prosecutor probably won’t ask to meet with you because you are a foreigner filing a complaint against a Korean.
The Prosecutor will protect Korean criminals against Expat complaints. You can appeal the first “Not Guilty/Will Not prosecute” decision by the Prosecutor. When the 2nd Prosecutor decides not to prosecute is when you go to the Civil Affairs Office.
Suppose the police find him guilty, all they will do is fine him. You then, take that fact/evidence and file a criminal complaint at the court. The police should but won’t do that for you. You should seek jail time for the criminal who committed those horrible acts. You already know the police will not do anything, prepare to go around them.
Filing a criminal complaint shouldn’t be so difficult but it is because of Korean RACISM against ALL Expats. You should be prepared to submit court complaint(s), evidence/documents, appeal 3 times, tell your side of the story 4 times (twice to the police, once to the prosecutor, and once in court as a witness).
#12. “I hope this doesn’t just go into foreigners versus Korean thing.”
Well Brian’s case did the moment the guy in question made it as such. Those who think that it’s the foreign community trying to turn each and every issue into a foreigners vs Koreans issue need only look here for evidence to the contrary. And let’s not forget that once again Korea’s finest are refusing to do their jobs and denying even the chance of justice to a foreign resident.
Brian, I have been following this saga here and on ESL cafe and think that you’ve made a corageous stand, albeit one that I would have dropped myself for reasons outlined earlier. Keep up the blogging though as you’ve become a great voice for the expat community here.
I helped put the Coreana/Hitler Ad thing in motion. That was enough for me. Brian really seems into this stuff. Not being American, I only really care about anti-Americanism when the shards of burning US flag land in my coffee cup but I thought his demand for a public apology from Korea was pretty amusing.
“And learn Korean.”
If you read his blog, he is promoting the latest TOPIK test. More than I’ve ever done for hangul. Besides, he really hasn’t been here that long.
Having lived in Cheolla for 7 years, I can appreciate Brian’s situation and don’t envy him one bit. Koreans are generally pig-headed enough, but when other Koreans single out one region for this particular ‘virtue” and others, well…
Bryan is in the belly of the beast. How would any of us fare in his stead?
Cheolla is the stronghold of sympathy for the North, just look at their voting pattern in the last presidential (or any other) election. Cheollans enjoy the benefits of prosperity under a liberal democracy, while putting KJI dupes into office.
So, in the above sense, Cheolla is essentially a fool’s paradise, kind of like France (I’ve lived there) or UC Berkeley (I was raised in California). Brian’s mistake is essentially attempting to engage a population of lunatics in sane dialog. A necessary exercise, but futile, as Solomon put it:
“Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.”
(Proverbs 27:22)
Though the verse fits Gwangju, there is unfortunately no Biblical account of Solomon visiting Cheolla for inspiration….
It’s so great to have the Marmot’s around for “sanity checks”.
Not being American, I only really care about anti-Americanism when the shards of burning US flag land in my coffee cup
lol! Or as we say to a lazy teammate on the soccer pitch, Good hustle…
Koreans say “we” have to understand “them” and their situation, but they really do little to understand others.
Sorry, eating pizza and going to a Hollywood movie doesn’t count. Neither does visting you aunt in Korea Town or staying in a western country for a year or two either. Koreans don’t understand foreigners like we don’t understand them.
In Korea it’s always an Us vs Them thing. Korea against the world. That’s why we are reduced to foreigners instead of people or the guy/girl in the black shirt over there.
It’s said that foreigners have the same rights as Koreans. This might be true, but the justice isn’t the same.
It may be piss poor on the Korean side as well, but still not the same. There are many examples of this.
Besides, Korean are supposed to be so kind, polite and warmhearted when it comes to foreigners, so how could this have happened?
How could this have happened in “white man’s paradise?” These things don’t happen in paradise.
Took a long time to ready through this..I think you are going no anywhere, because any gain you made they will fightback (Remember!! Korean cannot lose face to foreigners in Korea) and I know Korean of Cheolla region next to NK origin are the feisty type so please be careful. Nonetheless, the best of luck to you Brian!!
{snort} The rest of us have sense enough not to live there. He’s not a crusading hero, he’s a chump stuck in the ass-end of Korea in a place not fit for a white man to live.
Think about it this way — all the other Koreans look down on the Cheolla people and give them shit. Who does that leave for those losers to look down on? Shit runs downhill and English teachers and the Filipina brides are at the bottom of the hill there.
Funny. I liked Jeolla-do. And Suncheon-Yeosu is especially lovely.
I love the scenery there myself. My favorite place in Korea (at the time, relatively undiscovered) was Mireuksa.