By Dave Durbach
Some may be surprised to learn that Korea is home to a sizeable population of Africans, the majority (excluding South African teachers) hailing from the most populous nation on the continent, Nigeria.
Rough estimates put the number of Nigerians in Korea at several thousand, of whom about 500 or 600 live in Itaewon in Seoul.
Korea is about as far from Nigeria as anywhere can possibly be. What are these people doing here? What is Korea like for them? And is Korea a racist country? I spent a day in Itaewon to find out.
A Nigerian, who identified himself as Kingsley, has been living in Korea for over seven years, running a successful export business, dealing with Korean businessmen throughout the country, and speaking fairly fluent Korean.
He insists Koreans are intolerant of outsiders. ``Eighty percent of foreigners living in the country complain bitterly, whether they have money or not,'' he said.
He points to what was a Nigerian restaurant near to where we are talking, which has closed down. ``Look at this place," he said.
``A guy, he invested in Korea, he has all the requirements, but Koreans push him out from here. Go ask that Pakistani guy [next door], that guy is moving back [to Pakistan] next week.''
Kingsley complains bitterly about the attitude of many Koreans, as well as difficulties with immigration officials here.
He said, ``Immigration will only give you a one- or two-month visa. You always waste your time in immigration. Sometimes they hold your visa for months. I have appointments ― I'm supposed to be in China by next week, and also in Vietnam. But because of this Korean visa, I can't go out, which is very unfair. They always make things very difficult. I don't know why.''
It boils down to racism, he says. ``People told me before I came to Asia ― Korean people hate blacks. Maybe a white can be free.''
And as for having a Korean girlfriend, he won't think of it. ``Some of my friends had Korean girlfriends. They used to complain all the time. They used to call a million times ― `I need to see you, you have to stop your work, you have to do this, you have to do that.' They are very difficult. I don't think I can keep up with them!''
Maybe he was having a bad day, but Kingsley had very little good to say about Korean people, going so far as to say ``I hate them'' on several occasions.
That being so, it's hard to understand what he's still doing here. ``I'm here for business," he explains. ``We buy something, send it to our country, then we can easily make money. Without business, I don't see how somebody can stay here.''
Other Nigerians I spoke to had far kinder words. Daniel, 30, left a career in broadcasting in South Africa to come to Korea, initially working for the post office and in factories.
Now he is self-employed, living in Itaewon with his South African girlfriend. Unable to get a job at a Korean TV station or media house, he remains optimistic about his chances here, and is studying Korean to get his foot in the door. Does he enjoy living here? ``Not really,'' he admits.
Daniel sheds some light on the Nigerian experience in Korea by comparing it to South Africa, where, he says, Nigerians tend to be less organized, qualified and enterprising than those here. ``The problem with a lot of people ― foreigners, Nigerians ― most of them just want to travel. But when you get in, what are you going to do there?''
It comes down to opportunities, he believes. That's the reason why so many Nigerians around the world leave their home in the first place. In Korea, he says, there are more opportunities for Nigerians.
``In South Africa, there are no factories for foreigners to work. I know a couple of Nigerians who are working in factories [in Korea]. They're earning $1,200, $1,300. Factory work is hard, but they're doing it.''
Perhaps because he could compare Korea to South Africa, Daniel's experience of racism ― not to mention immigration bureaucracy ― here wasn't as harsh as Kingsley's.
``Let me tell you one truth about the Korean people,'' he elaborates. ``Most of them are racist. But the moment they know you can speak English, they get intimidated.''
``Racism is all over the world. It depends on the people you're meeting and the way you relate to people. Anyone can play this racist game around me ― if you do.''
He continues, ``I'll leave. It comes down to who you are ― if your status is in place, the way you present yourself and how you do your thing. Then you don't give them the opportunity of wanting to cause problems with you. So racism is not a big problem here to me.''
Another guy with a similarly easygoing yet determined approach to life, James has been in Korea for eight months, working for Samsung. ``So far, so good,'' he says. He has a Korean girlfriend, and insists not all Korean women are demanding princesses, as Kingsley suggested.
``Personally, I think good about Korean people because I have met many different kinds of Korean girls ― different thinking, different whatever. I'm living here in Korea, so I have to appreciate Korean people.''
When it comes to racism, he says, ``It depends on the individual. I think racism is not only in Korea; it's all over the world. It depends on the kind of person you meet, that's the most important thing. It's not that everybody, everywhere is racist.''
Age is a factor, too. When he met his girlfriend's parents, he says, they were friendly enough toward him. ``But, actually, sometimes you can't expect to get 100 percent from them, these grandmothers and grandfathers ― you have to prove yourself to them.
``The only thing I can say about Korean people is that they don't speak any English. They feel a little bit shy about foreigners. Most people I've met before, they want to come to you, to make friends with you, but the only thing that scares them away is the conversation. But when you speak to them in Korean, they'll be coming to you!''
There's nothing complicated about the profound difference between someone who ``hates'' Koreans because they are ``racist'' ― having been told this before they even came here ― and make it hard for him to do business, and those who dismiss racism as an occasional outcome of ignorance, compounded by the inability to speak English.
No doubt racism is here if one goes looking for it, whether one is black or white, Indian, Filipino, Japanese or even Korean. But isolated incidents of racism and xenophobia are everywhere, and needn't define a country's people or their attitude toward outsiders.
A bad attitude toward others inevitably encourages negative encounters. And when two people of different races don't see eye to eye, it's not necessarily racism. Surely, the opportunities and the good people here outweigh those few bad eggs, local or imported.
The writer is a South African freelance journalist living in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province. He can be reached at durbdev@yahoo.co.in The views expressed in the above article are those of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of The Korea Times.