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Staff Reporter
A ruling party lawmaker is to propose legislation that would define racism and set out punishments for racist acts.
The bill, if endorsed later this year, will become the first legal attempt to fight racism in South Korea, where various forms of discrimination originating from skin color and state of origin exist.
Rep. Chin Young of the Grand National Party (GNP), the president of a parliamentary discussion group on a multiracial society, said an anti-racism bill will be submitted to a regular session of the National Assembly for approval, which will begin on Sept. 1.
"The bill specifies which organizations will be responsible for monitoring acts of racism and what kinds of punishment will be imposed on violators," the lawmaker told The Korea Times.
"I have considered theories and cases in other countries, including the United States and France as a reference for the bill."
Chin said the draft bill needs further consultation with experts.
"The bill also includes how to help non-Koreans acclimatize themselves to Korean society and, in the long run, live here as real Koreans without prejudice and bias," he said.
Unending Struggle
Following The Korea Times report (Aug. 3 edition) on Bonojit Hussain, an Indian professor here who accused a Korean of humiliating him through abusive and racial language, an avalanche of letters, many of them written with extremely angry rhetoric, have reached The Korea Times.
Some shared stories of their own exposure to similar situations during daily life here, providing an opportunity for native Koreans to peek into what they believe is a racially homogenous society from the perspective of expatriates.
A Canadian who has visited Korea annually since 1999 said, "Racism is rife, and alive and well in Korea and it saddens me."
"It has become part of the ritual on every visit I have made to Korea to be insulted, ridiculed, mocked, teased and laughed at," the Canadian said. "In order for Korea to truly emerge as a player in the world, this attitude has to be corrected."
Ross Moore, an American living here with a Korean wife and children, said in a sarcastic manner, "This is the Republic of Korea and Mr. Hussain must understand."
Moore added he knows how deeply imbedded Koreans' negative feelings are against foreigners. "People become an end product of their environment and that's not about to change," he said.
These comments add further evidence to the belief that racial discrimination exists here and is very likely to become a tinderbox of social conflict in the future.
A growing population of foreigners is also adding to the concern.
The Ministry of Public Administration and Security said the number of foreigners in Korea on a long-term residence visa (90 days or more) reached 1.1 million last month, and that number continues to rise.
Of them, people with black or dark brown skin, who are frequently the targets of discrimination, accounted for 25 percent, the ministry said.
Despite the demographic change, the government has taken a nonchalant approach to the issue.
Professor Kim Eun-gi of Korea University, who studies multiracialism, said, "It's a sort of time bomb that will explode someday. But I think the government's active reaction to the trouble will come only after it causes major social conflict."
The growing voice of concern over the issue from the international community has gone unheeded for years.
South Korea is a member state of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
In August 2007, CERD urged Seoul to bring its laws into line with the convention by including a definition of racial discrimination and adopt measures including legislation to prohibit and eliminate all forms of discrimination against foreigners.
It also recommended the authorities provide specific training for those working within the criminal justice system, including police officers, lawyers, prosecutors and judges, on the mechanisms and procedures provided for in national legislation in the field of racism and discrimination.
But as seen in the Hussain case, police tried to just "erase" the problem by having both sides apologize and go on their way as if nothing had happened.
Jeon Hyun-young, an officer at the National Police Agency's human rights protection center, said, "We have no training programs focused on racism."
Sohn Myung-ki, an official at the justice ministry's human rights protection division, said the ministry is considering proposing an anti-racism law, but did not elaborate. "We have provided relevant education programs to staffers in the prosecution, correctional facilities and immigration offices," Sohn said.
Article 6 of the Constitution stipulates, "The status of aliens shall be guaranteed as prescribed by international law and treaties," and Article 11 says, "All citizens shall be equal before the law, and there shall be no discrimination in political, economic, social or cultural life on account of sex, religion or social status."
pss@koreatimes.co.kr
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