Testing for foreigners
By Basil Keilani
Recently, foreigners in regions all over South Korea had been asked to submit to coronavirus testing. Many foreigners were up in arms over this as it appeared to stigmatize foreigners as virus carriers in the eyes of many Koreans who read about this in the press. Some foreigners even got looks or comments after this.
I was surprised by this action. I have lived in South Korea for many years and have seen that the country was making strides in making immigrants and foreigners feel welcome here. This action seemed to take things a step back.
Not only did it break from that spirit of inclusiveness, it was unscientific and contradicted the more effective approach of how South Korea has been dealing with the virus. South Korea was lauded with how it dealt with the virus. However, it made no sense to test foreigners far from any cluster, even in southern cities like Gwangju and Daejeon and parts of Gyeonggi Province far from the clusters such as in Dongducheon, yet not test the Koreans who were near the infected foreigners.
A virus doesn't know the difference between nationalities. To paraphrase an Asian American lawmaker, no group or nationality is a virus. Why would a foreigner from India working for Samsung and staying mostly at home be more at risk than a national? Why would a foreign instructor teaching online and far from any clusters be more at risk over a Korean who, for example, lives near a cluster? This would make as much sense as testing all Koreans even if they had stayed far from anyone who was infected. I understand that some officials saw it as harmless to test all foreigners, but it wasn't an efficient use of resources or scientific, and it gave some people the wrong idea that foreigners are more at risk. It should have been taken in consideration that we are embedded in Korean society and surrounded by our Korean neighbors, students, bosses, husbands, wives, co-workers, etc…
This action certainly upset many Koreans and made them uncomfortable. This includes our friends, people who work with us, people in intimate relationships with us. This action affected not only foreigners, but also Koreans. We live together, and we are neighbors. Many of us were heartened by the letters and articles written by various Korean politicians, scientists, human rights activists, academics, journalists, artists and very importantly ― ordinary, but special, citizens advocated on our behalf.
We, in general, bear the same risks living in this wonderful country. We need to be in solidarity with each other to fight this virus. We also need to be in solidary with people of Asian ancestry living in North America who, in different degrees, face prejudice over the virus. We should all avoid actions and statements that could stigmatize any community in this world. I am glad to know that I am COVID-1- free, just as a Korean would be relieved to know so, but the circumstances under which one is tested is very important. As someone who has lived in Korea for about 10 years and first came here in 2007, I want to feel I am part of this society, part of the people. I appreciated David A. Tizzard's piece entitled “What is a foreigner?” because for me I don't see myself as apart from Korean society and culture. Being treated as such is paramount.
Basil Keilani is an English instructor at Chosun University in Gwangju, South Korea.