Dear editor,
I am a great fan of The Korea Times. It is my small pleasure to read The Korea Times every morning. Interesting and in-depth articles always amaze me. I am a university student studying English education at the moment and wanting to become an English teacher next year.
However, I was quite shocked by a March 19-20 opinion piece in the Thoughts of The Times column. I don't know whether the editor wanted to give Koreans a really fierce message or not, but for me, Rick Ruffin's writing was too discourteous. I really enjoy reading this column because a foreigner's perspective reminds me how we should go forward or reflect on ourselves.
Although listening to diverse opinions is important, Ruffin's writing was too biased. How could you comprehend one teenager's timid saying hello to the foreigner and others hitting each other a phenomenon of hating to admit someone might go ahead of some one?
Out of common sense, we all know that it does not imply any malicious intention. It is hard to explain, but it may be teenagers’ play or overacting in front of the foreigner in order to hide their limited English communication skills.
Describing Koreans going abroad to study English as a way to escape from Korea's “No Culture” does not make any sense. Koreans are eager to learn English as means of obtaining a bright future, just as people from East Asian countries are eager to study Korean.
No other culture can be explained in a so biased way or black-and-white theory.
Also it is so shameful to publish this writing in Korea's No. 1 English newspaper. How should the readers react to this column? Defend ourselves or become a people of “No Culture”?
I've already wrote a letter to Ruffin, concerned about his continuous ill perspective of our culture. I'm not sure whether my explanation will make him understand or not. However, I do strongly suggest that the newspaper should be more concerned about what columns they publish and how it will affect Koreans.
Cha Ye-eun
Student
Chungnam National University