Another Korean has been attacked in Australia.
According to Yonhap, a 28-year-old working holiday visa-holder by the name of Cho was beaten by two white youths in the Runcorn neighbohood of Brisbane just past midnight on Nov 25.
According to Cho, the kids approached him asking to borrow his photo to call their mother. He lent it to them, but then they tried to make off with it. They then mercilessly beat him around the head with fists and blunt objects, I’m guessing when he tried to stop them.
When they were about to attack him again, Cho screamed and adopted a counterattack posture, and the louts fled in a waiting car.
After getting treated by emergency personnel sent to the scene, Cho went to the police station to file a report.
Hojustani police, however, were insincere throughout their questioning, and even scolded Cho for being out late at night when it was dangerous. Or so Cho said.
Cho added that the cops even said Asians were “stupid” and “silly” for going out at night when it was dangerous.
Cho said the attack could have been racial since the Runcorn area has a lot of Asians, including Chinese.
Cho came to Australia in July of last year on a working holiday visa. He has been learning English while working in a meatpacking plant. There are about 30,000 Koreans on working holiday in Australia.
There’s been a spate of attacks on Koreans in Australia, with a guy in Melbourne getting his finger cut off during an attack by 10 white youths in September and a Korean office worker in Sydney getting attacked by four to five unknown assailants.
Not sure if the protest photo in the Yonhap story is related to the attacks or not. What we do know, though, is Yonhap is not very happy about this all, because they also penned a piece on how the Australian government and police were coming under fire for trying to minimize or cover up the rash of racist crimes targeting Asians and other foreigners in Australia.
According to Yonhap, Hojustani authorities are worried that if these attacks become known internationally, it could have a negative impact on two of Australia’s big three industries—education and tourism. Some are pointing out, however, that attempts to hush up the incidents without presenting fundamental solutions means a solution to the problem is far off.
According to the Australian press and Asian foreign student community on Nov 26, Australia had a tough time after the attacks on Indian students in Melbourne three years ago, with the number of Indian students dropping by 70%, but the situation has yet to improve.
At the time, the Indian government and press slammed the attitude of the Australian cops for being insincere in their investigations, with Australia eventually recalling their ambassador, but the Australian authorities insisted the attacks were mere muggings, not racist attacks.
The same went for the attacks on the Chinese students in Sydney in April. Despite the white attackers using racial insults and mercilessly beating the two Chinese students, the Australian authorities simply called it “an attack that could happen in any country.”
Even pro-Chinese (Yonhap’s words, not mine) Hoju PM Kevin Rudd called it a “teenage crime that could happen in any country.”
The authorities are making the same mistakes with the attack on the Korean in Melbourne. Despite the victim reporting it as a racist attack, Victoria police did not charge the assailants with whatever Hojustan calls “hate crimes.” Instead, they called it a common teenage crime.
Police apologized to the victim and promised to re-investigate when suspicions were raised that the cops didn’t really investigate and inquires were made by Korean diplomats, but police still haven’t departed from their view that the attack was not racial in nature.
In 1995, the Australian government passed the “Racial Hatred Act” making it a crime to disparage people on the basis of race or national origin, but police almost never use it.
In fact, some point out that the law has been rendered powerless, with Victoria police using it to indict three men for attacking an Indian in 2010, only to drop the indictment one year later for doubtful reasons (Yonhap’s words, not mine).
Kim Hyeong-tae (22, fake name), the former vice chairman of the Korean Students Association of the University of Sydney, said among Asian foreign students, there is widespread belief that it’s no use telling the Australian cops that you suffered a racial attack.
An employee of one major Korean company who has suffered racist insults several times during his three years working in Australia said to Australia, which earned notoriety for its past White Australia policies, racial discrimination is a kind of weakness and Achilles’s Heal. Australians are reacting sensitively because this weak spot is being touched, he said.
Marmot’s Hole: OK, Hojustanis, what the hell is going on here? And since when did the Brisbane suburbs become A Clockwork Orange?
PS: Just to show that God does indeed have a sense of humor, MBC—yes, that MBC (and this one)—ran the Yonhap piece on their homepage.
{ 156 comments… read them below or add one }
Well what do you expect from Australia? It’s one of the most racist countries in the world.
Hoju saram,
What’s the word on the street bro?
@1 they are just like you: no one but pureblooded can be accepted. The HORROR if someone isn’t from the same race/ethnicity/culture and even worse if, GASP, they are of mixed parentage.
Actually, Schmidt, it’s the least racist, alongside Canada, if you believe data and polls and stuff.
Wangkon – word on the street is a kid got beaten up by thugs in a poor, crime-ridden city suburb late at night.
Maybe I missed something – but where’s the racist element?
As for Cho’s comment that “the cops even said Asians were “stupid” and “silly” for going out at night when it was dangerous” – sorry, I don’t buy it. My guess is the real message from the cops, prior to being filtered by Cho and Yonhap, was that it’s stupid wandering around with a brand new cell phone in Runcorn at 1am. I would have told him the same thing.
Incredible that a mugging gets a run in the international news as some sort of racist hate crime indicative of a national culture.
I don’t think this ought to be a “Australia is so racist” issue. It’s more like a “Why is Australia such a fucking ghetto” issue. Because racism ideologically and culturally is one thing. But on the level of uncouth morons targetting others because of racial difference, that’s just something that happens because the people are trash and because they’re poor. That must be the state of Australia where these incidents happen. Trashy people living in poor conditions. You’ll see it anywhere in any ghetto where human nature isn’t padded with basic comforts and supported by education.
To add some more context, there are now 60,000 Koreans living in Hoju. If we’re going to start screaming racism every time one of them gets mugged, it’s going to be a long, long summer.
I’m guessing the young hoods are just seeing Asians as easy targets. No doubt such bottom-feeding scumbags possess a racist streak, but I’m guessing the desire to hurt/rob some poor sap is the real motivation here.
As a white Australian, I’ve been targeted myself on numerous occasions while out late on weekends. Never for a mugging; just some gutless, half-cut cunts looking to beat some poor sap up. I generally stand my ground during such encounters, but I can’t say that is a well advised response. I’m sure if one were to hot-foot it they would quickly give up the chase feeling nearly as self-satisfied as if they’d beaten you into submission.
Pro-tip: if you’re being chased by a half-dozen Lebos looking to mash your face up, start jumping backyard fences. No one wants to get their hands all cut up scaling shit in the dark just for a cheap adrenaline rush.
Yeah, a “fucking ghetto” with the highest living standards in the world.
Having said that Australia, like every country in the world, has shitty suburbs with ignorant people in them. Rincon is a backward suburb in a backward state. I expect there are similar places in, for example, Alabama and Arizona, and I also expect there are similar examples of crimes against non-whites in most countries, racially motivated or otherwise. It’s really not that noteworthy in a nation of 25 million people.
Once again, how this kid getting beaten up for his cell phone equates to Australia being “a fucking ghetto” or “the most racist country in the world” is beyond me.
@ #1
Pretty ironic coming from you! XD
What?! You mean a bunch of assholes who have no qualms about beating and robbing a complete stranger is ignorant enough to be racists?!
Holy fuck.
I completely agree with Hoju.
One last point (which I don’t really don’t want to labour), but I do feel like I’m entering an irony-free zone when I hear Koreans lambasting Australians for being intolerant.
And I really have a chuckle when the 40-year-dead-wasn’t-even-an-actual-policy “White Australia Policy” is dragged out for show, particularly when it never even comes close to the levels of racism in the current Korean immigration regime.
hoju,
Don’t mistake my impunity for trashy people in Australia for anything but that, Don’t shoot yourself in the foot there, with respect to my defense of Australia. How do you account for the trash in this recently popular video online:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp6J6PF47CM
You’re saying these xenophobic morons are not ghetto and are living comfortable lives? If so, then there’s something wrong with Australia indeed.
“To add some more context, there are now 60,000 Koreans living in Hoju. If we’re going to start screaming racism every time one of them gets mugged, it’s going to be a long, long summer.”
Well, how many of a population of 60,000 people do you think it’s normal to get mugged by strangers in one year? My county has a little more than that and I would imagine there have hardly been any muggings, ever. So, you can imagine what Korean readers would think when they hear about the second such incident within a month.
I do think it’s a case of easy targets more than racism, but it also shows that Australian police can’t keep their streets safe or control juveniles, which visitors do have a right to be concerned about.
impunity -> impugnment.
αβγδε,
Of course they’re ghetto, and of course they’re trash. What country doesn’t have this sort of scum? My issue is when you write:
Australia is one of the most multicultural countries in the world, with Melbourne and Sydney two of the most multicultural cities. Ethnic minorities and non-Anglo immigrants number in the millions. Hardly surprising that there are occasions of racism in such a diverse country. What you need to do, αβγδε, is visit the country before you start making outrageous generalisations about an entire nation on the basis of a few incidents.
I don’t think the attackers are specifically seeking out Koreans and beating them. Rather, I think it’s a matter of “things that are normal and safe in Korea, aren’t normal and safe in all other parts of the world.” There are tons of places in California, New York, Chicago, Florida, London, etc. where no sane person walks around alone at 1am. In Korea, it’s perfectly ok (unless maybe you are a woman) to walk around alone at night.
Decrying Australian racism and trying to address the problem from that angle isn’t going to solve much. Rather, perhaps educating Koreans and other Asians about what is and isn’t safe would yield greater results.
Travel Hint # 1: Just because the area is full of white people, doesn’t mean that it is safe to walk around at 1am, alone.
What??
What’s your suburb, Yu Bum Suk? I’m very curious.
Nobody – not me- made a fucking generalization. You just need to stop getting your Captain Hoju panties in a bunch.
16, no, I mean my county in Korea.
Sorry I meant 19.
Ok αβγδε, maybe I misunderstood you. But this -
- struck me as a generalisation. Call me crazy.
Yu Bum Suk, understood. I’d still be curious to know what the suburb is. And if the 60,000 people in your good neighbourhood haven’t suffered a single mugging in the last year, (let alone “ever”), I’ll eat my own undies.
I’m in the southeast, and it’s a pretty rural “neighbourhood”. I’m sure there’s probably been a mugging somewhere, some time (probably teenager-on-teenager), but it’s the last place anyone would think twice about using an expensive phone at night. Hence, you can understand why people here who read about these cases would wonder what the hell’s wrong with Australia and why (possibly rather naive) Koreans are being targetted.
“An employee of one major Korean company who has suffered racist insults several times during his three years working in Australia said to Australia, which earned notoriety for its past White Australia policies, racial discrimination is a kind of weakness and Achilles’s Heal”
Don’t actually get this…but as an (Australian) employee of a major American company in Korea, I suffered direct racial discrimination every day of my Korean life. I couldn’t get the same ATM/bank service as Koreans, I couldn’t get the same phone service as locals, I couldn’t shop online or book movies/transport with out local citizen number…list goes on and perhaps this has changed now. I just got on with my life without enjoyed it without complaining and trying to create a diplomatic bruhaha.
Sorry to turn this back to Korea, as overall I loved living there. I just love the way an employee at a ‘major Korean company’ gets a quote (that doesn’t make sense).
If Australia is such a racist and bad place, why are 60,000 Korean’s living/visiting here? As I said the last time this post came up. None of my Korean or other Asian friends have ever complained to me about any racial problems living here. Even when I’ve asked them.
Whenever you are in a foreign country albeit any race, don’t do things locals usually wouldn’t do. Cavorting around rough suburbs in the middle of the night is one such thing many locals here know not to do.
Shame, as Brisbane is really nice with few rough suburbs unlike some suburbs in Sydney.
Australia today has a rich cultural diversity and I’m proud of it (being an immigrant myself!)
My other sister is currently engaged to a hoju saram. She said that Australia (especially Sidney) is sunny and diverse like California, but people talk funny and the toilets twirl the other way…
I’ve also lived in Dublin. Once when walking in a rough suburb (near Ballymun) with a Korean mate, a bunch of teenagers came up and squinted their eyes and started yelling ‘ko ni chi wa ” and other mocking sounds. My buddy laughed, but I was pissed off and chased after them.
That is an example of youth being ignorant and racist. A random mugging is not.
This was a hoot!
http://www.smh.com.au/world/dont-call-me-an-australian-women-guilty-of-racism-over-verbal-attack-on-kiwi-neighbour-20121122-29r2z.html
One noteworthy bit in the story is that the Oz hate crime law is rarely enforced. Good. Save the hate crimes for the Thought Police. A mugging is a mugging, and whoever did it should be prosecuted on that basis, regardless of motivation.
…and if the mugging is ancillary to the hate crime?
Guess what? I grew up in a rural Australian neighbourhood and wandered around at night without a worry too. This is a poor, crime-ridden city neighbourhood at 1am in the morning.
One one occasion in Korea, my good friend was assaulted and kicked repeatedly in the head while he was lying on the ground. He had a brain haemorrhage and almost died. It happened late at night in an inner-city suburb of Gwangju. I’m pretty sure, judging by the way the mob was chanting Day Han Minguk whilst they attacked him, that it wasn’t exactly a random assault.
Oddly, I didn’t wonder what the hell was wrong with Korea after this happened. My own experience in Korea was really good, and I generally felt very safe. But let’s not pretend the ROK doesn’t have occasional issues of violence and/or racially motivated crime.
As for your suggestion that Koreans are being specifically targeted – gimme a break.
hoju-saram, I’d hardly call Brisbane a crime ridden city. Admittedly Runcorn isn’t exactly the nicest place in SE Queensland.
Baek-du,
I meant crime-ridden suburb. I actually live in SE QLD and had to look up where it is – soon as I saw Springwood and Logan I knew what the deal was.
I actually just looked up Runcorn then – here are some fun facts for digesting:
1. 53% of people in Runcorn were born overseas.
2. Only 60% of people in Runcorn have finished High School.
3. It’s in the top 10 suburbs in QLD for home break-ins and assault.
Lovely place to be wandering around at 1am in the morning then.
Baek-du boy: I just read the story you linked to. Holy fucking shit. Read this letter by an Aussie, too:
http://www.australiantimes.co.uk/news/opinion/is-being-called-australian-a-racist-slur-one-uk-court-says-yes.htm
“My guess is the real message from the cops, prior to being filtered by Cho and Yonhap, was that it’s stupid wandering around with a brand new cell phone in Runcorn at 1am. I would have told him the same thing.”
Then why police bring up “Asians” into this equation? If it was a stupid thing to do to walk around the street at night, being Asians has nothing to do with being stupid. At any rate, it sounds like Australia is full of crime waves involving street muggings against visible minorities (this is not just about Koreans) as easy targets. Instead of focusing on racism issue, the Korean papers really should be questioning the wisdom of Korean government for not issuing a travel warning to Korean students and tourists to be careful of going to Australia.
Anonymou_Joe,
if the mugging is ancillary to an assualt or murder, you mean? As a libertaruian you should be firmly against the concept of hate crimes. Crimes are crimes, if its murder then its the same no matter what the motive was. Hate crimes are thought crimes, and it can lead to situation where no crime has been committed yet a person is charged: for example in Korea people wanted the man who cursed out the Indian individual to be charged with a crime. Is cursing someone out a crime in itself? Yet suddenly it becomes when when its a “race crime.”
#35 A Kiwi family member of mine jokingly said they should have put her in jail and thrown away the key for such a slur, rather than a 110 pound fine.
My whole point was that they may not have said anything of the sort.
There are 30,000 Koreans visiting Australia every year on working holiday visas, and 60,000 Koreans living permanently in Oz. If you want to issue a warning to 90,000 Koreans on the basis of two assaults, you better issue travel warnings about every fucking country in the entire world.
Following this logic, should Australia issue a warning to all citizens about the dangers of visiting murderous Koreans?
Bonus round: did Yonhap run a story on the fellow above? Or are muggers of Korean teens in Australia more newsworthy than Korean murderers in Australia?
#40, but it’s not just two Koreans in the news. Actually there were three Koreans within just the last few weeks, who were attacked, if I recall correctly.. but who’s really counting. It’s the spate of reports by visible minorities that they were victims of muggings, which is the disturbing part. If there’s smoke, then there fire, because none of the other Anglo countries like Canada, USA, Britain, have similar number of case being reported. So the visible minorities in Australia are the only ones whining about being mugged in Australia? What gives?
Hoju Saram wrote:
“I expect there are similar places in, for example, Alabama and Arizona…”
You left out California, mate. No one can top our home-grown morons. No one.
Three? I only recall two, but who’s counting?
I think the key here is “being reported” – because Canada, the US and Britain sure as hell have similar numbers of cases. And if you think Britain is less racist than Australia you’re completely nuts.
The two muggings in question weren’t reported in Australia because they were, well, muggings, which aren’t exactly rare occurrences in the west. Why Yonhap is in a frenzy is anyone’s guess.
If you seriously think 2 muggings from a pool of 90,000 Koreans is disturbing, you may be clinically disturbed. My guess is that Koreans in LA, for example, fall victim to muggings every other day. I could be wrong of course, and I’ll defer to Wangkon’s opinion on this one.
#43 should have had the 1st par blockquoted
When I was in LA for 8 days a few weeks back, there were about 10 muggings, robbery, and various other scary violent crime against Koreans/Korean Americans within 2 mile radius of where I was staying. Now, I dunno how big this Runcorn is, but I’m going to go ahead and guess that its bigger than 4*pi miles sq.
1) these pretzels are making me thirsty
2) “H. Schmidt” – haha! your 위선 is showing, 튀기.
3) #11 @ Jakassni: very piss-poor effort at shitstirring, mate.
I love it how a few Koreans get a bit roughed up in some bad neighborhoods and the Koreans are up in arms about being targeted racially (How about some shock reports on the foreigners that are racially targeted in Korea?). Seriously, Korean media needs to pick up it’s game and not rely on word of mouth to report it’s stories. If what the police officer said was true ( and importantly, racially based) then our poor little victim, Mr Cho, should file a complaint against that officer.
I think the difference is that 33% of the Koreans / KoAms in LA aren’t there on working holidays. When Koreans get mugged in LA it’s perhaps shocking but not surprising to them. If they don’t speak English perfectly they know someone who does and there are Korean-speaking police officers. Those most at risk, namely shopkeepers, know the risks and are often armed, so there’s not the same feeling of helplessness. I think that’s why the press has ended up making such a big deal over these incidents.
Sometimes I miss my Kiwi roots. No one picks on NZ (perhaps too insignificant).
I know in NZ some Maori bros have gone up to a few Koreans (and other Asians) and said “hey cuzzie bro, guv us your wallit n iphone eh? Chooice!” – is that a racial attack?, or are they just going for an easy target?
Am I being racist saying it would be Maori’, it could just as easily be pacific islanders or white dudes with Maori tattoos there.
#48 Yu Bum suk is on the right track. It’s due to the high numbers of working holiday visa Koreans that some are finding themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time in Australia.
Perhaps the Korean media might like to focus on the vast number of these working holiday visa travellers working illegally here, taking jobs under the table, living in illegal environments (10+ ppl in 2 bdrm apartments). Although the media have focused somewhat on the prostitution. Not so much the gang members entering on another person’s passport.
I personally feel it’s Australia’s responsibility to provide affordable housing, create an easier working/tax system so Koreans aren’t working for $8-10 per hour (mostly employed by other Koreans, Korean/Australians) and not getting holidays / overtime payed. Many working holiday visa travellers don’t have any alternative than to work illegally and fill up inner city apartments with four people per room and bunks in living rooms.
Baek-du and Robert – I quite liked the NZ Herald’s take on the matter, which has been gleefully sent to me by all my kiwi friends on facebook.
The only thing stopping Kiwis sewing their flag on their backpacks is the fact that they copied ours and it looks almost identical.
#43 Hoju saram wrote:
“I think the key here is “being reported” – because Canada, the US and Britain sure as hell have similar numbers of cases.”
Not so sure, but each country may interpret ‘hate crime’ somewhat differently.
According to Statistics Canada, there were 1,401 hate crimes in 2010.
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2012001/article/11635-eng.htm
According to the British Home Office, there were 43,748 hate crimes recorded by police in 2011/12.
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/crime-research/hate-crimes-1112/hate-crimes-1112
Unfortunately, I could not easily find statistics for hate crimes on the Australian Government site, at least in my cursory search. Perhaps someone else could find such for a comparative study.
http://www.aic.gov.au/statistics.html
In America, the FBI site reports that “6,628 criminal incidents involving 7,699 offenses were reported in 2010 as a result of bias toward a particular race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national origin, or physical or mental disability.”
According to this 2012.04.26 article http://www.police.ac.kr/journal/down/down_view.jsp?idx=291
Korea does not classify ‘hate crime’ yet. Does anyone know if this is true still? Perhaps Yonhap could decry this.
BTW, in Canada, according to the General Social Survey on Victimization (2009), statistics likely undercount hate crime. Only about one third of those which were perceived to be racially motivated are suspected of being reported. Interestingly, “similar proportions of hate crimes were committed against East and Southeast Asians (including Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese groups) and Caucasians, at 6% and 5%, respectively.”
Meanwhile, these attacks have reached Australian media. FWIW I never thought Runcorn was that bad, sure not the nicest place in Brisbane but nearby Sunnybank is grouse with the food courts. My gf works at a high school in an adjoining suburb, very multicultural area. Been to a couple of school events, all kids seem quite harmonious, couldn’t sense any overt tensions among the students. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/australias-safety-questioned-after-three-attacks-on-south-koreans-20121127-2a5b0.html#ixzz2DOyIAc3N
Well, yes, there have been three Aus attacks by the looks of things: http://www.theage.com.au/national/australias-safety-questioned-after-three-attacks-on-south-koreans-20121127-2a5b0.html
The incident previously mentioned here (guy loses finger) did happen (first I’ve heard of it). In fact in happened in a local neighborhood I know very well. Two things regarding the Melbourne (Box Hill) report: 1. (and not wanting to trivialise a nasty incident), but the 33 year old Korean man was attacked by a 14 year old boy (as in, a young boy) or boys – he couldn’t defend himself against a spotty youngster? Not that he should be in that situation anyway, but… The attacker was charged the next day too.
2. The Korean guy must have been very unlucky to be attacked by the only white people in the suburb (joke). Box Hill has a very high percentage of Asian people in its population. (It’s also home to one of my favourite dumpling restaurants too).
Mugging is a traditional Western custom that dates back as far as Aistotle and Plato. I think this guy should show more respect for thecustoms of his host nation, or at least try to understand them instead of simply claiming racism every time he has a cultural misunderstanding.
Heheheh.
Where’s pawi!?!? Can’t wait for his comment:
“does it hurt, white boy? so if it is racist crime in Korea everybody gets upset and angry and call Koreans racists, but if it happens in WhiteLand it is normal ? take that, snow white! and psy will be man of the year on Time magazine! How’s that caucasian friends, huh, huh?”
What Australian newspapers are saying:
In Korea, if the “teenagers” doing the muggings and and beatings were Korean teenagers, this is what Koreans would be saying…….
“They’re just children…. they’ll say sorry”.
If someone goes to a new locale and does not know how to spot bad situations, does not know the neighborhood and gives off the non-verbal “I don’t know where I am”, they are at risk for mischief or crime. This sort of thing can also happen anywhere in the world. I would think that such a scenario is unlikely to happen in South Korea though.
Jakassni at his finest (#58):
Hey, great shitstir, mate. I reckon you’ll really drive ‘em crazy with that one!
Oooops. I just put this on some other thread. Something about a bus strike. Sorry.
Anyways. Here goes again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvu0Bm2kQFc
P.S. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW8475aSj-o
I agree with the ‘Asians are an easy target’ angle. Asians are seen as physically weak and easy to rob, probably everywhere outside of Asia. I don’t think there was an ideology of racial supremacy behind these attacks. There was an article recently that listed crime statistics in urban areas, and Asians were disproportionately targeted. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sfgate.com%2Fbayarea%2Fnevius%2Farticle%2FDirty-secret-of-black-on-Asian-violence-is-out-3265760.php&ei=kt20UNXtEcup0AXc2YHABw&usg=AFQjCNHVJ50U5pAFkD4LwR50owkLYsnXsA&sig2=E-bFI7vR-aj7Ftynl_r0-w
So, if you’re Asian and in a sketchy area, be extra vigilant. Walk straight, with purpose, and don’t look around like you’re nervous. And be ready to either give your stuff up quickly, or fight back. The appropriate response depends on the circumstances, I think.
Here’s another one about the situation in Philadelphia: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ba9_1337727984
DISCLAIMER!!!
I like Nemo. I think he is a clown fish. I think he lives in some anemone somewhere in the Great Barrier Reef. That’s Australia, mate.
I also like Hugh Jackman. You know!!! Wolverine. Also very good in Swordfish and other random movies.
I hate Rupert Murcock. The day that phone-hacking, neo-Nazi dies is the day I smoke a big fatty and it has been more that fifteen years so that will prove quite the day.
But I do like Nicole Kidman although I think she was born in Hawaii so if she runs for president of America I am NOT voting for that Islamic bitch!!!! Yeah, man. Birthers!
Although she is one hot piece of Aussie ass! Or was. Right, Tom? She’s getting kinda old. But of course I’m 44 so what the hell am I being so picky about it?
Which reminds me. Did you ever notice that a woman is so much more attractive with your **** in her mouth. She is ten years younger and Venus ****ing De Milo. Oh Christ! Did I just write that????? The wife is coming through the front door with the son!!!
Oh, God…. Oh, God….
Delete! Delete! Delete!
Don’t push Submit! Don’t push Submit! For the love of ****ing Jesus don’t push……..
Come to think of it, I think Mel was born in New York.
I don’t know that the attack was racially motivated either. From RK’s blog post:
Was the waiting car waiting for the hooligans waiting for an Asian passerby?
Uh- huh. Becauase the Korean police are ceaseless defenders of the rights of foreigners to walk on the streets of Korea unharmed. Because they have such a fantastic record of not murdering the people they hold in custody. Because racism is acknowledged as even existing at all by the majority of Korean society. Because foreigners are never insulted on the street or attacked if they protest against the racial abuse directed against them by Koreans. Because Koreans never gang-rape Western women or break into their apartments and rape them. Because Koreans never rape children in their care, but all Western teachers are pedophiles you must distrust. Uh huh.
As an Aussie i can confirm that:
*We are a country full of bogans,
*We are actually one of the richest countries in the world (through both good management and a lot of luck)
*Runcorn is not the best suburb, however i think Melbourne/Victoria would be far worse (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-22/police-investigate-racist-taunts-on-melbourne-bus/4385788)
*There was a lot of media coverage of the attacks on indians, however if you look at the stats indians are under represented as victims of crime, and although not that one story defines the whole story there was one case where an indian claimed he was brutally beaten and set on fire, but after police investigated it turned out he was actually trying to torch his car for insurance and accidentally set himself on fire.
*I would certainly believe that some racial abuse might be yelled from a passing car (or even face to face) but this does sound more like a case of wanting to steal the phone of the first potential victim they could find rather than a racial attack.
* I think the difference between Korean and Aussie racism, is that Korean racism is still embedded in the countries legal and administrative system rather than people. Essentially Korea has a more racist system and australia has more racist people.
Hamel, you realize by continually typing your insults, you are typing more SH1T than anyone else.
you are not typing anything interesting or constructive…
problems with the wife?
you’ve become the Holes new BS’er
rowan:
You’re right on the money. Korea has institutional race/nationality-based discrimination, whereas Australia (and other western countries) have sought to stamp that out, leaving behind individual or personal racism.
Regarding the first attack in Melbourne, I said in an earlier comment thread that these kind of attacks (someone asks you for a cigarette and then rolls you for money) are not uncommon, and Asians are by no means the only targets. In this case the Korean was unlucky enough to end up in the hands of a mob, and they hurled a racial epithet at him. But that doesn’t mean the attack was inspired by race. That’s incidental.
Robert Koehler:
What do you have against “hate crime” laws, Robert?
I didn’t express an opinion about “hate crimes” one way of the other in that selection, Hamel. It’s just that I don’t know what your peeps call what we Migukistanis call “hate crimes,” and I was too lazy to Google it.
I’ve written on this (well, the Korean not the Aussie side of it) before.
Korea most likely (see for the sake of accommodating rare instances, I’m moderating my statements to the detriment and weakening of my point) has as a whole more racist people. Aussie’s racists are the last bastions and protectors of the old guard. Like trapped animals, they’ve taken matters, as if their lives were at stake (which in a way they are), into their own hands and struck back. A more extreme example from history is the KKK, which was born in the South’s defeat in 1865 and found renewed vigor in the 1920′s and 1950′s, times of significant civil rights advances.
Korea’s racism is institutionalized, coddled and protected by law, and requires no grand individual actions.
Koehler: way to dodge a bullet there.
Anonymous_Joe:
So if you were moderating your real belief there, I must assume you believe Korea definitely has a lot more racist people as a whole. And that is where I disagree with you. But I guess it all comes down to what one means by “racism”. If you mean a racism that expresses itself in actual outward acts perpetrated on foreigners, then I think Australia would have the numbers there. If you mean a racism that is expressed through passive attitudes of suspicion towards foreigners, then Korea is the winner.
In top section of SMH news website today
http://www.smh.com.au/national/i-feel-so-embarrassed-and-humiliated-korean-attack-victim-accuses-police-20121128-2aczj.html
Thing I don’t get is….the guy says he is left handed? Haven’t met many (any) left handed Koreans – Gyopo aside.
Are you for real?
Could someone please translate this into English?
Not so much tempering my real belief as not willing to use the words “all”, “always”, and “every” because other posters jump all (oops) over those words when it comes to Korea.
Bingo. Foreigners need not fear losing fingers in Korea but stand no chance in their courts, with their legal protections, in law.
In short, I think Aussie racists are smaller in number but more demonstrative; Korean racists are larger in number and more pervasive in their influence.
“grouse” = bogan for “awesome”
I think that Aussie (and other Western) racists are so because of actively held beliefs, whereas I think that Korean institutional race-based discrimination is a default position for most non-immigrant societies. As they change, so will the laws. This status quo is a temporary situation. Talk to people who have been here 30+ years; things have improved. Before 1998 it was not legally allowed for most foreigners to own property in Korea; now it is.
Of course, as the situation changes and Korea becomes a nation that accepts immigrants, you might find that “Western-style” racists will propagate.
In sum: I don’t see this as being a particularly Korean phenomenon – it’s simply a human one.
#79
“Foreigners need not fear losing fingers in Korea but stand no chance in their courts, with their legal protections, in law. ”
Any lawyers practicing in Korea here? Is this really true foreigners accused of crime or foreign victims have no chance of winning in Korean courts?
Mike Breen did, and against Samsung, no less.
Someone I know accused of child sexual molestation at a local government run English class also had his case thrown out by the judge for lack of evidence (sadly, he had to spend close to 3 months on remand before the case went before the judge).
I don’t think it is a clear-cut as Anonymous_Joe would like it to be to help his case.
@83
My recollection is not that Breen won, but that Samsung drooped its action after Breen issued a rather abject apology.
That is not my recollection.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/13/world/la-fg-korea-samsung-20100513
“Samsung spokesman James Chung said the company decided to drop the lawsuit after Breen sent a letter of apology on May 7.”
Hamel recent-memory fail. Perhaps a visit to your physician is in order.
Didn’t the Samsung incident essentially end Breen’s career as a columnist in the K-Times? Shame.
To both of the above: I have corresponded with Mr Breen on this matter in the last hour. It is as I said. There were two cases – civil and criminal. The criminal charge was thrown out of court by the judge, and Samsung dropped the civil case after a non-abject letter of apology was sent, apologizing for offence taken, not for what was written.
Maybe not: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2012/11/121_118991.html
@89
Contrary to your insistence, it is not as you said. The fact is, regardless of what Breen says, he did not “win” the civil case; it was settled by his apology, not by a court determination in his favor.
I don’t know about the criminal case, but I also doubt it was dismissed by the judge; more likely it was discontinued by the prosecution in light of the civil settlement as being an inefficient use of resources.
The overarching point, contrary to your original claim, is that Breen’s case(s) are not good examples of foreigners getting well (or ill) treated by the working of Korean justice system (as distinct from the travesty represented by the relevant libel laws the provisions of which made possible the claims against him in the first place
Sperwer: with respect, counsellor (retired), I disagree. The following is from Mr Breen himself. Further inquiries can be taken up directly with the man himself:
The travesty of Korean liberal laws notwithstanding, they apply equally to Koreans as to non-Koreans. So my overarching point still stands, that foreigners are NOT doomed to fail in Korean courts, as was asserted by Anonymous-Joe.
Tell that to the crew of the Hebei Spirit, an oil tanker hit by a barge and causing the huge oil spill off Korea’s coast.
(Wiki – ok, I am too lazy to find all the links)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_South_Korea_oil_spill
Neff: I will gladly say to the crew of the Hebei Spirit what I said here. I am not saying that things work out well all the time for foreigners in the Korean justice system; I am simply saying that it is not as bad as Anonymous_Joe makes out.
honestly these attacks don’t sound that bad. sounds like drunk kids causing trouble and roughing people up or muggings gone wrong. they’re not like murders or anything. there are tons of murders in the US that just go unnoticed because they’re so common. koreans and australians probably aren’t used to lots of violence so this kind of thing is a big deal.
here’s a valid question: why do the australians have to accept non-whites when koreans don’t have to accept non-koreans? who but the white guy has ever questioned his hatred? you gotta shut up on this one, korea.
pawi: wha? are you being ironic?
I see I’ve gotten myself into a Vietnam type police action with the language police. Yes, I will agree to that if I am in Korean court and I have video tape that I was in the White House lunching with the Pope and Dalai Lama, have them appear as sworn and in Korean court witnesses to my alibi for the time of a crime, I might prevail in Korean court.
I highly doubt that the incidents are race related. It just sounds some idiots walking around dodgy neighbourhoods and suffering the unfortunate results. It’s the same as hanging out in some of the dodgy Korean places in Hongdae, I know of several cases of people being assaulted for the crime of simply not being Korean. Hongdae is a dump and I only ever go there for the odd gig.
Racism does exist in Korea to much larger degree than in the west and more advanced countries. A prime example is the ironically named ‘London 24′ bar in Itaewon – which is a ‘Koreans only’ place http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6Cp7Vu9pCU&noredirect=1 There is another new place called New York 24 that I suspect is owned by the same people, I don’t know if they also have a Koreans only policy. They obviously don’t get how strange it is for them to name their racist bars after arguably the two of the most international cities on the planet.
Do you know of tons of murders in the US that went unnoticed?
I suppose if the murders were suppressed in the news they would go unnoticed, but then how do you know about them?
In another thread, who might be MH’s most insightful, prescient, and yet most vilified poster for being so far ahead of his time in cutting to the quick of today’s day and age and all the while maintaining his sense of humility noted the lack of irony filter.
In 2013 – Australia is the second best place to be….
http://www.smh.com.au/business/australia-the-worlds-secondbest-place-to-be-born-study-20121128-2adk0.html
The first Korean “victim” who had his finger nipped…
lucky him – Australia re-attached it for him –
http://www.smh.com.au/national/i-feel-so-embarrassed-and-humiliated-korean-attack-victim-accuses-police-20121128-2aczj.html
and he is still complaining (in Australian that would be winge’ing)
photo of him with his left hand arm – (with ALL fingers)
http://images.smh.com.au/2012/11/28/3842575/MOR-korean-narrow-20121128114444978721-300×0.jpg
Jakassni – if at first you don’t succeed – try, try again, eh? Keep trolling, mate.
Jak Honey,
You spelled ‘whinging’ incorrectly; even in Australia that’s be a mark off, and that’s fair dinkum.
My take on this is that it wasn’t racially motivated – he appeared to be a pigeon for plucking and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. How much trouble can you put yourself into when that happens? A lot, as most of us know.
Thanks Cactus, I never did know how to add “ing” to whinge. Now why does it need a “h” ?
I’d say grouse is more ocker and kitsch in an old fashioned, folksy way than bogan. Bogan’s are apt to saying ‘sweet as’ for anything and everything they like or just ‘sweet’.
Anyways to break it down for my North American friends, what I meant was the suburb of Sunnybank – adjoining the suburb of the attack, Runcorn – is a great place with its Asian food courts where you can get delicious, cheap food from every corner of SE and East Asia. ‘It’s sweet as, cuz’
“Grouse” is pure 80′s bogan. An ocker’s more apt to say it’s “ripper”. The lines are blurred, of course. Heard a lot of wogs refer things as “sweet”, but they’re hardly the only offenders.
The Melbourne victim does come off as a complete whinger, but even in Aus. The squeaky wheel gets the oil.
I would love to see how stoic you blokes would be if you got your arm broken in Korea (requiring surgery to set, it seems from the photo) and a finger cut off, and you felt that the cops weren’t doing enough to find and punish the perpetrators.
Come on, let’s be reasonable here. It can’t be right to bitch and moan about how bad our lot is in Korea while calling someone who gets treated poorly in Australia a whinger.
Why is he a whinger? He got seriously assaulted and robbed. The fact that he was “in the wrong place at the wrong time” (does not the law apply everywhere at all time or are there magical places where the law sometimes does not apply but does at the “right time”?) Is not the job of the Police to protectm and failing this, to catch the wrongdoer? If the cops aren’t doing their job, he has every right to speak up. I notice he isnt whinging about the country of Australia but about the lazy and incompetent cops. For the cops to even hin that there are wrong places where at the wrong time the law does not extend to is shocking.
Thanks, “mates”. Now, what are “ockars” and “bogans”?
@109
Hear, hear
BUT, his instinctive invocation of racism as the explanation for the alleged insensivity of the police still is despicable
Blaming the victim is wrong. It also demeans the criminals by implying they are robots without free will. “He came to this lousy neighborhood in the wee hours, what was I supposed to do? It’s his fault I beat him up.” Further, any cop too lazy to get his arse out of the donut shop because the victim was too stupid to stay away from a dodgy area should be fired.
@111:
What, and give you more invective to hurl at Aussies you disagree with (a la chavs @ Keith). Don’t come the raw prawn with me, “mate.”
@112:
Despicable? I think that erodes the meaning of the word. It is not despicable, but rather entirely human and understandable. Just look around this and other K-blogs to see the same done in reverse.
@ 113
Question: do visitors to any city receive a map upon arrival showing “bad neighborhoods” and “shitholes to avoid” with times to stay away?
By the way, most common thing said by Aussie cops these days to people phoning with a complaint “Nothing we can do about it.”
#114: I heard Microsoft came up with some sort of “avoid ghetto” app and got grief for it from the PC Police. Dunno if that app actually has been developed and is available. Good idea.
The only disagreement I could ever imagine having with an Aussie would be in the unlikely event he cut off my finger.
Keef is a straight-up pom wuss. No comparison.
Yep, human, understandable (but not excusable) and despicable – in both cases.
I wouldn’t call the racism claims despicable, just pure whinging from a sook with a victim complex. A lot of the same does go on around here.
Calling out the cops on their laziness is purely justified and even commendable. Not that I woulda got the cops involved in the first place if it were me and I could avoid it. I’d be more inclined to heal up and do some laps around Box Hill in search of a little outback justice.
Church!
he got his pinkie cut and broke his arm. not really a huge deal. you can get hurt like that playing touch football. he wasn’t slashed in the face or stabbed anywhere near any vitals. there are probably thousands of teens roaming around so it’s not surprising that the cops don’t have any leads and can’t find them.
you can get your pinkie cut off playing football?
Good grief. I give up.
Bro, do you think this otherwise seemingly innocent tourist had latent homosexual thoughts, say at one time during his formative preteen years, and so this pack of roaming teens channeled and assumed cosmic avenging angels thus protecting humanity from Australia to the far reaches of the Earth from the gay influence that skewed Nate Silver’s interpretation of the poll data and kicked the presidential election to Obama?
um….yeah..no idea, Joe.
But you raise some questions, thats for sure.
this article says he was “embarrassed and humiliated” http://www.smh.com.au/national/i-feel-so-embarrassed-and-humiliated-korean-attack-victim-accuses-police-20121128-2aczj.html
if it was really serious he’d feel happy to be alive and still shaken up, not embarrassed and humiliated. there’s nothing the cops can do if there are lots of drunk teens roaming around at night and there weren’t any witnesses or anything.
Ahhhh, Salman… You have eyes but cannot see. You move your eyes but cannot read.
There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
So what good are the cops?
what about intent? there isn’t really evidence of serious hostile intent. if they were ganging up on him and surrounding him, they could have done some serious damage to him with a knife. if they had such an intent that is. the fact that he just got his pinkie cut suggests that serious intent wasn’t there. they were probably just waving around the knife to scare him, and he probably had his hand up in a defensive posture and it got in the way and cut as a result. and he probably broke his arm when he fell to the ground and landed on the arm or something.
Is getting a finger cut off like a bruise or a wedgie? Want me to chop off one of yours, Jashin?
Next time you get armed at gun or knife point and you dont die, maybe the cops shouldnt do anything because hey, they could have killed you.
are you saying they had the intent to seriously hurt or kill him bro? if they had that intent, why didn’t they do it bro? they outnumbered him and had at least one knife. sounds like they were just roughhousing bro.
he was outnumbered 10 to 1 and they had at least one knife on them. they could have filleted him like a fish or ended him right there bro.
I’m no lawyer but it seems they had the intent to commit armed robbery and they inflicted physical damage during that robbery.
yes, they could have, then they would be guilty of murder or manslaughter. Instead they are more likely guilty of, at the very least, armed robbery and assault.
i don’t think they stole anything bro. it says they asked for a cigarette and he refused.
they stole his phone, didnt they?
Or they TRIED. Would you argue in court “My client broke into a house and tried to steal the jewelry at gunpoint, but the dog foiled him and he ran off, so because he failed to get away with the jewels, he is therefore not guilty of anything. He was just roughhousing, it was really good natured, and he culd have killed them all, but he didnt, he should be commanded instead of decried”
Yes?
btw, when people try to bum a cigarette off you on the street, you’re supposed to give one. it builds up smoker’s karma so the next time you’re out of cigs, you can bum one off someone on the street. i guess this dude learned the hard way.
it doesn’t say they stole his phone or anything bro.
I carry cigarettes with me on the street so that when would be robbers accost me I can silently, slowly, insidiously kill them.
…not just a hat rack on my shoulders.
“According to Cho, the kids approached him asking to borrow his photo to call their mother. He lent it to them, but then they tried to make off with it. They then mercilessly beat him around the head with fists and blunt objects, I’m guessing when he tried to stop them.”
They tried, bro.
What the fuck does it men youre supposed to give them cigs? What if you arent a smoker and they dont believe you? And even if youre a smoker, how the FUCK are you obluigated to give free smokes to others? is that a law? Are they legally allowed to beat the shit out of you and cut off your pinky if you don’t? Are fucking stupid?
that’s a different guy bro. i’m talking about the guy who got his pinkie cut and arm broken.
it’s just among smokers bro. you don’t ask random people bro. you ask people who are smokers.
I’d love to know the ratio of troll posts to honest posts for Jashin Densetsu.
Hundred to one?
i haven’t made any troll posts here bro.
i can’t be the only one here who thinks this attack is overblown.
here’s what i’m guessing happened. the teens were probably drunk and loitering or roaming around. they crossed paths with the victim without necessarily any intent. one of them asked for a cig, victim refused, and they probably got annoyed or pissed off and said something and then surrounded him to push him around a bit and roughhouse without any major serious intent. he probably fell down while they were pushing him around and broke his arm that way. they probably got scared after he fell down and scrambled.
Perhaps Jashin (and others) are unaware that asking for a cigarette is the new way of saying “your money or your physicaly wellbeing.” I kid you not. Have a look at these news reports!.
Fingers don’t just lop off when you wave a knife at em, bro. You’re watching too many Samurai movies. That would take serious intent or incredible misfortune during a balls to the wall brawl.
I don’t give the kids credit for being anything but gutless scum, even if the victim is a big baby.
Much like Sybil, there must be at least 16 voices inside your head thinking so.
Yet another attack reported today, fifth attack on South Korean students studying in Australia, in three months period.
This time, a 28 year old female Korean foreign exchange student was attacked by two young women and a man.
good post babotaengi
Why only Koreans get attacked?
Japanese lived in Melb ovr 20yrs,
Studied in Korea for a yr would like to say,
Hey, its not like Koreans are the only ones who get assalted you know?
Others just know how handle or avoid situations like these.
Being in Boxhill late at night is like asking to get raped or assulted.
No matter what counrty you live in shit happens.
But in my 20yrs in melb, the worst I had (beside the bitch fights at high school)
was an Indian cab driver swaring out the window and chasing me down the street.
I am sure there are worse out there but never got involved.
I have Korean friends and do not think that I am being racist,
but am not happy whith the behavior and attitute of Koreans.
My friends know how I think and are cool with it.
They KNOW that their race love attention and would do anything to get it.
I say, let them be. So what if Koreans stop comin to Australia?
They are not doing Australia any good anyway.
Australia may be a less stressful place without them making claims, reporting back to Korean news-papers(although I do not give a —-) and opening Japanese and Chinese food stores.
People should just go online and google “koreans are” and see what you get.
Not all are true. But most of them seem to be.
And given advise(?) from my korean bud, most of the “good coments” about Koreans online posted by “Non- Koreans” are written by “Koreans”.
TimeOut, umiru bolno..
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