MBC Report Unnerving Guatemala
By Kim Se-jeong
Staff Reporter
The Embassy of Guatemala in Seoul and a Korean broadcasting company are at odds over a documentary program on Korean residents in the Central American country.
On Feb. 24, a television program Sisa Magazine 2580 of Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) reported Koreans in Guatemala are increasingly becoming targets for kidnapping for ransom and killings.
Shot in Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala, the program depicted lives of victims and their families.
One Korean man was recently found dead outside Guatemala City, that was the third case since 2003.
One Korean survived getting shot in the face while she was driving. Two men who were kidnapped and released without injury appeared to be among a lucky few.
One family lost their father, who disappeared suddenly.
People interviewed on the program said that living a normal daily routine has become more difficult.
In response to the program, the embassy said the information shown during the show was "tendentious and hostile."
In a letter sent to The Korea Times, the embassy said, "The report presents a frightened Korean community with their lives threatened, which is not the truth."
It said the production team took the issue to the extreme.
"Interviewees have not been more than 10. What about the other 10,000 Koreans living happily with their complete families in Guatemala?"
The Korean Embassy in Guatemala City was candid about the security situation in the Central American country. "On average, 16 people die every day here, and it is a dangerous place," an embassy official told The Korea Times.
But he said the report appeared on Sisa Magazine 2580 somewhat biased in its depiction of Koreans as the main targets and victims.
The official said there are many other victims who are from other countries, such as China.
Since 2003, three Koreans have been killed, 19 robbed and two kidnapped, the Korean embassy Web site said. Throughout Guatemala 5,781 were reportedly killed last year, the official said.
Of about 10,000 Koreans currently in Guatemala, more than 70 percent are temporary visitors for business. More than 90 percent of them live in Guatemala City.