By Lee Ji-hye
Media in Korea believe a New York Times’ investigative article about alleged exploitation of workers in the U.S. city’s Korean-dominated nail salons is “potentially racist.”
The 13-month investigative series by journalist Sarah Maslin Nir titled, “The Price Of Nice Nails,” was the lead article on the paper’s website.
Various Korean news outlets claim the article is a “distortion of truth against Korean-owned nail shops.”
Joongang Ilbo’s affiliate channel JTBC reported that wage differences were related only to workers’ years of experience, and that most shops pay the legal wage.
Lee Sang-ho, from the Korean Society in New York, told JTBC, “This could trigger negative views of Koreans and lead to racial discrimination against Koreans in America.”
He said Korean owners of nail shops in New York would hold a press conference disputing the NYT report.
SBS also reported that Korean owners were planning an official response stating that most of the article was untrue and pointing out that there might be a backlash against Koreans in the U.S.
Two Korean journalists helped compile the report, which alleges racial discrimination, underpayment, and unhealthy working conditions ㅡ Ham Ji-ha and Yang Yeong-Ung interviewed workers and owners at more than 150 nail salons.
Workers at most nail salons claimed they were forced to work shifts of 10-12 hours, were paid less than half the minimum wage, were physically assaulted and monitored through surveillance cameras.
"When Ki Ok Chung, a manicurist who worked in salons for almost two decades, had her fingerprints taken in the early 2000s for her U.S. citizenship, she made an upsetting discovery: her prints were almost nonexistent, because she had been fingerprinted seven times,” the article reported.
The English article was translated into Korean, Chinese and Spanish – all posted online.
The Columbia Journalism Review reported that the most surprising part of Nir’s investigative report was racism.
"Nir uncovered a caste system in which workers are paid differently based on race. Korean workers, favored by the Korean salon owners who dominate the business in New York City, earn 15 to 25 percent more than their Chinese- and Spanish-speaking counterparts—the latter are particularly discriminated against in terms of pay and general treatment by owners.”