Some stellar journalism on the part of the Chosun Ilbo. Just tip-top.
One of the teachers, incidentally, was Tanzanian, and in fact introduced himself as the son of the Tanzanian prime minister. Certainly don’t read that every day.
Brian has a lot more on this.
UPDATE: Got to give Chosun Ilbo intern report Choe Hui-seon credit — she certainly seems driven. She posted another English teacher-bash piece today. Some wonderful specimens of humanity cited in this one. Quotes by anti-English Spectrum guy, too.
Hopefully, Korea Beat will translate it later for amusement’s sake.
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Well, thank god it’s Canadians AND Americans. Also, thank god they didn’t go around raping women at knife-point again. Entirely too much of that around. Oh, or that they were not high when the “cultural differences” occurred.
hunh? HUNH?
If all these hagwon are so famous, how come I never read about them on TMZ?
A brutal, hard-hitting expose of men and women obsessed by thrill drugs and uncontrollable passions!
Their trouble with the law… their ruined lives… their connection with the mob… shocking crimes of the TEACHERS WHO TAKE DOPE!
I swear, Lee Eung-ah and a bunch of clowns at the Chosun are living in a 1956 copy of Crime Detective magazine.
red sparrow,
Yeah. Kinda like Reefer Madness meets Holywood Babylon, too.
And I literally mean it…The government is trying to pass bills that will tighten the visa application process. It’s disappointing that in this day and age they’d sink to agitprop and disinformation in order to garner support for a bill.
PS. The governing party and the opposition can forget about getting my vote in the next elections.
Is she really an intern? Is English teacher bashing the new obituary section?
Funny stuff!
I am going to miss this kind of thing…or not.
What about the countery story, written by foreigners, that look at how most White men and White women are exotified in Korea? Where’s that?
Or, even better, I’ve never read this baldly honest story, that most Korean-Korean women who date Western foreigners in Korea are: 1) viewed as unattractive by most Korean men; 2) have no shame, when asked, admitting that they (man or woman) are dating the foreigner because they wanted to practice their English; 3) want to “travel the World”; 4) might not speak much English themselves.
Either story would be far more compelling than this rubbish (though who HASN’T heard the line: “I came to Korea for the pus**” from some random guy before…I heard it, a lot). Most of my relatives and Kor-Kor friends in Korea would NEVER go to the foreigner dives.
countery=counter
Whoa, for some reason my last few sentences in #9 got cut off….argh: the reason why I bring up my relatives and friends example is b/c I feel like 95% of Korean women are, well, afraid of or dismiss immediately dating foreigners. Let’s face it, if the poor picked on Korean woman story is going to be propogated, why is the question of: Many of these same women know what the hell they’re getting into when they go to Itaewon, or Hongdae, or Monkey Beach in Apgu…or name any “foreigner” bar in any other random Korean city.
Exactly- it’s this continuing shite about foreigners being immoral, drugged out, pedophilic, sexual predators while the Korean women are just naive, innocent victims.
Really?
The insinuation that Korean females are so naive (dumb) as to not know what people go ‘clubbing’ for, or go on dates for – that they are so easily fooled into doing something they really don’t want to do, of their own volition.
That’s insulting to both foreigners and Koreans!
The truth is that conservatives are just so upset at the liberation of women – the mere idea that a woman could make decisions by herself and not live by anachronistic, conservative rules is just preposterous.
“She must have been tricked, drugged, or raped at knifepoint”.
These jackoffs are just a bunch of losers who can’t get any without paying for it, so this is their form of revenge.
Sadly, they are being taken seriously in the media!
I, for one, can’t be damned worrying a second over self-loathing, xenophobic misanthropes who spend their time and jeopardize their livelihoods searching for individuals guilty of having more fun than themselves. The fact that this drivel lands itself on the pages of one of the nation’s most popular newspapers says more about the current state of this nation than the quality of – or lack thereof – the non-locals residing in it.
Yes, just another manifestation of the barbarians inside the gate. One wonders if the Koreans who aren’t familiar with other kinds of foreigners believe this to be a more insidious invasion than the Manchu one.
Observation: Several times Song has mentioned “Apku” (or maybe “Apgu”). I’ve never heard anyone, Korean or waeg, use this term for Apgujong.
Theory: Song’s time in Korea was spent in a smallish, tightly-knit enclave of kyopos who congregated in “Apku”. They didn’t like waegs, they didn’t fit in with Koreans, they probably didn’t intend to stay long, they probably couldn’t wait to leave. “Apku” was one of their code words, used only within their clique.
Pure speculation on my part, but does my theory hold any water?
“Most of my relatives and Kor-Kor friends in Korea would NEVER go to the foreigner dives.”
That doesn’t mean they don’t hang with unsavory characters, does it? After all, there are far more dives here that cater to an exclusively Korean clientele here than those catering to a foreign one.
Linkd,
That or the last time he set foot in this country (and possibly studied Korean) was when he was 5, which is why he thinks it’s normal to drop the ‘dong’ since we sometimes drop the ‘do’ when referring to certain Korean provinces.
**What about the countery story, written by foreigners, that look at how most White men and White women are exotified in Korea? Where’s that?
It’s difficult. Journalists don’t like difficult. For example, how are they exotified? How do you back up that assertion? Brian in Jeollanamdo has done some more specific pieces on this, but it doesn’t get done because its a lot of work and thought for not much return.
**Or, even better, I’ve never read this baldly honest story, that most Korean-Korean women who date Western foreigners in Korea are: 1) viewed as unattractive by most Korean men; 2) have no shame, when asked, admitting that they (man or woman) are dating the foreigner because they wanted to practice their English; 3) want to “travel the World”; 4) might not speak much English themselves.
Well, I’m sure at least 2 and 4 have definitely been done. It’s hard to see where the other two would go. Most k-girls that go out with foreigners want to travel? So what? ‘I went out with a foreigner because no one else would have me’ good luck finding someone who’ll say that or finding stats or other back up. And it would be pretty crass to go the other way and say that not only was some girl taken advantage of but that she is also ugly.
**Either story would be far more compelling than this rubbish (though who HASN’T heard the line: “I came to Korea for the pus**” from some random guy before…I heard it, a lot). Most of my relatives and Kor-Kor friends in Korea would NEVER go to the foreigner dives.
By which you mean, I suppose, that this is not reflective of the overall population, and that foreigners only have it easy with a small proportion of fairly self selecting girls. If that is what you meant, I’d agree.
Including, sit down for this, in places like Itaewon…
All right, t-song
I’ll be brutally honest…
My wife loves me and I love her.
The rest is none of your fucking business.
“Including, sit down for this, in places like Itaewon…”
It’s not a shock, it’s been like that since I’ve been here, and probably long before I ever thought of setting foot in Korea. There simply aren’t enough foreigners who frequent Itaewon to keep all those businesses afloat.
t_song
It is interesting that you tend to fixate on Korean women dating foreigners. In the “baldly honest story” in #9, could the same things you suggest be said of Korean men dating foreigners?
john_galt718, please donot ask such questions to t_song. Korea has 4 seasons, you cannot understand.
As for Itaewon, I am not surprised – not anymore anyway. When I came arrived in Seoul, in 1990, Korean friends took me to their favourite place, in Itaewon. I was the only non-Korean, and things degraded quickly because of that…
“I feel like 95% of Korean women are, well, afraid of or dismiss immediately dating foreigners”
95% of Korean women can’t speak sufficient English to date a foreigner. I trolled Korean clubs exclusively, where I was generally the only cracker. I would say that if your Korean is good enough to perform all communication with a girl in Korean, you have a good job, and you are attractive enough you can pick up 75% of the women there. If I got booking at Elle Lui for a night I would generally come away with a dozen numbers, all from the upper 25% of the hotness scale, not to mention the inebriated trollops who would go for the direct club->my apartment trip.
What did you tell them your job is?
For all the bluster about this particular group of Koreans, it seems fair that just as there are outliers of the obvious nature on the foreigner side (someone saying ‘I’m just here for the pus**’ seems obvious enough), there will be a few on the Korean side (Brian’s post about the article mentioned “some of our members have quit their jobs because of the time they spent on the movement.” Yep, that’s a little past silly. In short, the stupids are finding the stupids.
Yeah, I thought the guy was an English teacher. I can’t imagine “drug-dealing English teacher” is a winner in the clubs (although, chicks do dig “bad boys”). Or did he put his drug dosh to use faking some other profession?
Robert!…. the “tweetbacks”….. too… much… stupid… stupid emanating from them… nearly….. unbearable!
I worked for PATRIA Patent Translation, so I said I was in Intellectual Property ^_^
@t-song -
“What about the countery story, written by foreigners, that look at how most White men and White women are exotified in Korea? Where’s that?”
How does this generally true statement (which you have a hard time masking your bitterness about) “counter” the BS in this article exactly? How are the two even related, except that they are both about foreigners?
Linkd – I think you are on to many things here:
I’ve heard several gyopo friends use “Apgu.” And only them. Perhaps gyopo slang.
That T-Song doesn’t like “waegs” with Korean womens, yeah, he’s made that more than obvious by now.
And, the “what did you tell them your job is?” …when I, in a nearly accusing fashion, asked one uberhot girl that I dated, “Would you still date me if I was an English teacher?” she laughed and said that her friend would have NEVER introduced us in the first place. Knowledge of the language and a job that demonstrates that one has “a good ability” (konglishy for: has a job that has made or someday will make him rich) opens a lot more than that “ugly 5%” that t-song has given us. If a decent looking foreign guy with a good job spoke good Korean, he could easily go on a rampage here. He wouldn’t even have to use a knife to get sex.
I second Capt BBQ on the tweetbacks.
So… fake lawyer.
Nah, I said exactly what I did. I don’t think girls really care what you do though, maybe if they’re older and looking to settle down, but those types aren’t at a club anyway. My Korean friend who I used to go out with was an unemployed 26 year old, but very confident and outgoing. His broke ass pulled in rich Kangnam girls all the time.
“I’ve never read this baldly honest story,…..”
What’s your point T_Song, after all I can pretty much say that 1), 3) & 4) apply to most Kor-Kor girls dating Ko-Kor guys; and as for 2) I can’t say I heard any Kor-Kor girl admitting that publicly let shame or otherwise.
“Most of my relatives and Kor-Kor friends in Korea would NEVER go to the foreigner dives.”
Just shows how fucked up you and your family are, and demonstrates how you still overstate the influence of foreigner, the vast majority of consumers in Hongdae, Shinchon and even Itaewon are Kors-Kors not foreigners.
I may not go to foreigner “dives” either, in fact I only know of a handful, but will happily go to many of the numerous good bars and restaurants that cater to an international crowd, western, Asian, Korean et al.
You comments really show, that despite claiming to be American you really are part of the problem here. Why aren’t you out there finding and showing your family some of the really great real international places out there, that they wouldn’t otherwise dream of visiting.
“Many of these same women know what the hell they’re getting into when they go to Itaewon, or Hongdae, or Monkey Beach in Apgu”
What is that exactly? They usually club together, and what exactly are they getting into, I’ve never seen anything bad happen to a korean girl in any bar I’ve been too, and certainly not more, than them “knowing what they’re getting into going into a korea bar.”
I’m slightly baffled anyone would respond to a gyopo who hasn’t been in this country since childhood. They know far less about this place than us waygooks who live here.
I’m pretty sure Song said he was a teacher here for a couple years around 2004/5.
Especially a gyopo who seems bitter cause he couldn’t get a white girlfriend in the US, blamed it on his koreaness, only to find on arriving in the motherland he couldn’t get a korean chick either
What do they think of teaching in general, though? I’ve never actually asked them, so I honestly don’t know. As a non-hypothetical, if I were to say I was a professor (but NOT of English), would I still get the sneer and scoff reaction?
“So… fake lawyer.”
Since when do you have to be a lawyer, for “working Intellectual Property” to be true, or are you saying that IP lawyers are fake?
Here, in NYC, we call guys who fuck off to other countries where they can’t practice law but continue to call themselves lawyers “fake lawyers”. We also call them paralegals. But Bendon could tell you more about that than I.
I third the guys on the tweetback mess.
“What do they think of teaching in general, though? I’ve never actually asked them, so I honestly don’t know.”
I don’t know who you mean by “they,” but I can tell you the girl in questions opinion. Despite her hatred for some of my teacher friends, whom she (incorrectly) considered enablers in my weekend outings, she didn’t hold them in low regard. She was just somewhat of a princess, and like her friends, expected someone with a fatter wallet.
Was hoping to hear more from t-song.
“As a non-hypothetical, if I were to say I was a professor (but NOT of English), would I still get the sneer and scoff reaction?”
Of course she wouldn’t sneer or scoff. Professors are put way up on a pedestal here.
Not counting the foreign English professors, you mean.
“So… fake lawyer.”
Could be a worse career title like “failed blogger” (see Korea Law Blog for example).
Any girl who chases lawyers, Korean or not, should be sued. Or at least forced to sign a prenup.
There are intelligent, attractive 28 year old virgins running around in Korea who have never kissed a man. There are some very innocent young women (and men) out there who you won’t find in any bar. Portions of Korean society are very socially conservative and protective, and our activities as open and worldly (decadent) foreigners need to be taken within that context. Korean parents don’t want drugged out freaks interacting with their children and the media makes money feeding those fears. Just be glad this isn’t a clean, orderly, cosmopolitan and wealthy metropolis like Singapore where you hang for forgetting to flush the public toilet after smokin’ weed. Try not to get so bent out of shape about it all because Korea is “lightening the future” for all of us.
Sorry if (crappy) creative material is discouraged on your site.
“English teachers are easy to lampoon”. “I often write about foreign instructors if my last article didn’t get a lot of attention”
Recently, the website ‘xxxxwaeguknom.co.kr’ has been joined in its vitriol by more, traditionally respectable online sites. Even established news sources are now attempting to slander the foreign teacher.
Every day at ‘anti-cheezsniffers.org’, a site originally established to spread accurate news, hundreds of posts about the relative ease of slandering foreigners go up. Posts like: “They can’t read Korean anyway” “You can openly mock them in our language on the subway!” “Someone stole my dog once”.
Ms Sunny Jeon, a writer for one of the seven acceptable newspapers, openly declared on her blog: “I took this job only to skewer foreign English instructors. I want 원어민 강사 to become a four-letter word.”
Twenty-three year old Kim of Goryeo Ilbo wrote on an online community frequented by Korean reporters: “I love to see completely English teachers completely humiliated. I want them to feel like dangerous animals. I’m even learning English so I’ll be able to write for ABC News one day.”
A Mr. Gang, recently accused of yellow journalism by a media watchdog, has been rehired at another newspaper. “It’s great because the hiring policies seem to encourage this type of writing. The English teachers are essentially voiceless in Korea so they’re an easy target.”
John Q. Haddenuff of an online community created to raise awareness about racist tendencies in Korean media says “when Korean reporters of low character and morally deviant practices cause damage to our reputation, we should publicize it and bring shame to the perpetrators. However, we should not quit our jobs and lose sleep over it. Nor should we compare ourselves to warriors prepared to sacrifice ourselves for truth. That’s just for morons.”
Our intern friend scores the hat-trick. In two days.
http://news.chosun.com/site/da.....01412.html
English teachers. Hmm.
http://www.gesomoon.com/zboard.....p;no=11246
Is this real?
And…. fake degree seller,
http://kr.news.yahoo.com/servi.....;from=rank
Well, at least, hapless lassies with a penchant for ’sexual deviancy’ may pick up some English along the way. Maybe in the future girls in the sex industry will have a firm grasp of English! Some day, possibly, ‘you look agassi?’ will be replaced with ‘does the good sir require a breathing receptacle into which he may deposit some fluids?’
Circle the nouns.
You’re a few days behind everyone with those links there, ✿⊹⊱⋛☃⋚⊰⊹✿, try and keep up.
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