By Christian Keith
I was an English Instructor in Korea from 2000 to 2007 and during that time, I had nothing but good things to say about the country and people of Korea. I remember the relatively peaceful existence I led while working in Korea and enjoyed meeting many different people and making friends with the Koreans I had worked with and I had met as acquaintances.
However, in early 2005, I noticed a very disturbing trend occurring in Korea that started to bother not only me, but a lot of other foreign teachers and expatriates as well. It was from that time that the Korean media started fabricating sensational stories about foreigners coming to Korea with dubious backgrounds and qualifications and acting in such a way that was unacceptable in mainstream Korean culture.
Although there are some within the foreign community that did engage in such acts, there was, and still is, a general consensus among the members of the foreign community that those people are in the minority and that the majority that go and work in Korea are in fact law-abiding citizens of their respective countries. Foreigners, as a whole, do follow the laws and regulations that govern their conduct in Korea. In some cases, even more so than a lot of local people do, if the news stories coming from Korea are accurate. However, it is the small percentage of misconduct perpetrated by foreigners that has seen the largest percentage of media coverage over the last few years.
Such generalized, judgmental stories are causing ordinary people to have unwarranted prejudicial assumptions regarding the foreign guests of Korea. Such stories would not only be scrutinized in places like the United States and Canada for their inaccuracies in portraying an entire group, but an association or a human right's group might pursue judicial reparations for such reckless reporting by the media. I guess the Korean media should be thankful no human rights organization would take up the cause of fair treatment for foreigners, basically for fear of angering the masses by going against popular xenophobic sentiment. However, if such generalizations were to be inaccurately reported about a particular group in the United States, for example, the particular group would press for an official apology for the distorted remarks made in the media.
Not only have ordinary people been swayed to feel distrust toward foreigners, but members of the national assembly, particularly the progressive ones, have passed seemingly harsh restrictions on those foreigners who want to come to Korea to make a difference to the country and do their best to see Korea achieve great things in the age of Global openness. Does this help the image of Korea as it strives to be seen as an international hub of business and trade? Not really.
Korea will be judged not by how it treats the businessmen and investors it courts around the country, showcasing the accomplishments. Korea will ultimately be judged by the way it treats ordinary people; those that took the chance and strived to accomplish much for themselves and for the country with their hard work and an earnest work ethic. Companies and governments will be more willing to assist and invest in a country that treats all people equal, not only those with the means to invest.
English is known as an art; it is a skill that needs to be mastered in order to understand and comprehend what is being said. But by coloring everyone with the same brush and in the same color, it can greatly distort that message.
The writer is an English teacher living in Korea. He can be reached at delphi_k@hotmail.com.