Legal protection needed against racial discrimination

Jeon Thi Hien, right, a naturalized Korean from Vietnam, has a talk with her friend, Hong Thu also from Vietnam, about the legislation of an anti-discrimination law in a cafe in Hanyang University, Seoul, Saturday. / Korea Times

This is the sixth part in a year-long series, “Multiculturalism: The Great Experiment.” ㅡ ED.

By Jun Ji-hye

Koreans were angry when football hero Park Ji-sung, the then Queens Park Rangers captain, was racially insulted by an English football spectator during a match in London last year.

The abusive football fan was found guilty of violating Britain’s anti-discrimination law in January.

Compare this to the case of “Little Psy,” who appears in the “Gangnam Style” video.

Hwang Min-u, born to a Korean father and Vietnamese mother, was victimized by cyber bullying. Hwang filed complaints in May against the bullies for insults rather than racial discrimination.

Korea has no anti-discrimination law.

Legislation against racial discrimination has stalled in the National Assembly, although the nation is becoming more diverse.

By many signs, it can’t wait any longer.

Jeon Thi Hien, a naturalized Korean from Vietnam, says many immigrants experience racial discrimination.

“People tell me in public that I smell bad. I feel awful and want to tell them they also smell like cheonggukjang (fermented soybeans paste),” she said.

She added that Koreans treat white people well but ignore people from Southeast Asia because of their darker skin color.

“Even some people from Asian countries are ignored by their Korean family members. The workplace is no different. Foreigners are usually given a lower salary compared to Koreans although we do the same amount of work,” she said.

In 2011, Ku Su-jin, a naturalized Korean from Uzbekistan, held a news conference in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, saying she was denied entrance to a sauna by its owner because she has a different skin color.

“I am worried how my children will live in this country,” she told reporters.

Rep. Chun Soon-ok of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) said a comprehensive law banning discrimination based on race, gender, religion or sexual orientation was necessary.

“This country needs to set clear criteria to define discrimination and punish those who commit it,” she said.

Two other DP lawmakers, Kim Han-gil and Choi Won-sik, recently withdrew proposed anti-discrimination legislation in the face of strong opposition from Christian organizations.

“Those opposing the bills called us ‘gay lawmakers’ or ‘admirers of North Korea’s Juche Idea.’ They even launched a campaign to unseat us,” they said in April.

“This shows Korean society has yet to accept and tolerate diversity and difference,” said Chun.

A similar bill proposed by Rep. Ahn Hyo-dae of the ruling Saenuri Party and Rep. Kim Jae-yeon of the minor Unified Progressive Party is languishing in the National Assembly.

The Assembly has failed to deliberate on several anti-discrimination bills since December 2007 when the National Human Rights Commission recommended that lawmakers should enact a law to ban racial discrimination.

Rep. Jasmine Lee of the Saenuri Party, a naturalized Korean from the Philippines, echoed Rep. Chun’s view.

“Discrimination without rational reasons should be prevented and prohibited. Pushing forward with legislation in this regard is what lawmakers should do,” she said.

She added that gaining support from all of society was needed to pass the legislation.

In 2009, when Rep. Jun Byung-hun of the DP held a forum to listen to diverse opinions on an anti-discrimination bill, some right-wing groups broke into the conference room to block the discussion.

They criticized foreigners for taking away jobs from Koreans as well as committing brutal crimes such as sexual assault or murder and argued that the government does not need to protect them with anti-discrimination legislation.

“That argument is just not true,” said Kim Joon-sik, head of Asian Friends, a leading civic group for migrant workers and wives.

Research has shown that the crime rate for foreigners is half that of Koreans.

“As for foreigners taking away jobs from Koreans, many migrant workers work in the industries that require hard physical labor, the so-called 3D jobs that are dirty, dangerous or difficult. It is those industries that desperately need migrant workers as they find it very difficult to hire Koreans,” said Kim.

Since migrant workers contribute to the Korean economy, failure to attract them will result in a slowdown in nation’s economic development, he added.

“If Koreans remove immigrant workers from those industries, they consequently might have to shut down due to a labor shortage and this will rob Koreans of their jobs,” he explained.

Kim noted that many developed countries have already passed anti-discrimination laws.

“When these laws were first proposed, they had to overcome some opposition. Prevention of racial discrimination is not a matter of conservative and progressive ideas. It is a matter of ethics and common sense,” he said.

Benjamin K. Wagner, a former professor at Kyunghee University Law School, pointed out the Korean government needs to be more active in pursuing anti-discrimination cases.

“Korea made its own commitments concerning the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) treaty that racial discrimination is already prohibited whether the discrimination is against foreigners or against multiethnic Korean citizens, and pledged that it is domestic law. But a Korean court has not cited the CERD in any case it has heard,” he said.

When the CERD Committee raised this issue, Korea replied “there aren't any cases because there isn't any racial discrimination.” But CERD responded by saying the “absence of complaints may be an indication of the absence of relevant specific legislation, of a lack of awareness of the availability of legal remedies, or of insufficient will on the part of the authorities to prosecute.”

Wagner added that ”prohibition against discrimination based on sexual orientation, which is what Korea claims is holding up the anti-discrimination bill, is already forbidden under Korean law under Korea self-imposed commitments with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The ICCPR is also domestic law, the same as the CERD.”

In 2009 after the National Assembly failed to approve an anti-discrimination bill, the government explained to CERD that it would redouble its efforts to introduce the law.

“There is always some excuse for it not getting passed, but there is no excuse for failing to prevent racial discrimination,” he said.

DP lawmaker Chun said, “The Ministry of Justice plans to propose anti-discrimination legislation around October. The DP will actively participate in the move. I expect widespread discussions on the issue to take place in Korean society and the bill to be eventually passed although it might take some time.”