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Cultural tensions surface at Haeundae
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fosterman



Joined: 16 Nov 2011

PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 6:17 pm    Post subject: Cultural tensions surface at Haeundae Reply with quote

Quote:
Korea�s most popular beach has become the site of the latest example of the country�s growing pains with multiculturalism.

Police at Haeundae in Busan last month sent a letter to some 1,600 companies in the region that employ migrant workers, asking for their assistance in preventing foreigner crimes. The letter, dated July 10 according to a report by Voice of America, was in response to nuisance behavior and a handful of reported sex crimes by migrant workers.

The letter asked companies, some of whom send busloads of foreign workers to Haeundae for vacation, to send their foreign employees to other destinations or to stagger their holidays.

It is unclear how many migrant workers from South and Southeast Asia were arrested to prompt the police�s move. A Naver search does not turn up any reports of arrests of migrant workers at Haeundae this year before date of the letter. However, in the three weeks following the letter, at least six arrests of migrant workers for sexual molestation and taking photos of women in bikinis were reported in the local press.

Holidaymakers crowd Haeundae beach earlier this month. (Yonhap News)

In June, Nocut News ran an article about how the local district council was planning to send letters to employers to educate their workers on culture and etiquette after incidents of sexual harassment the previous year.

Further clouding the scale of the problem, a police officer at the Haeundae Summer Beach Police told The Korea Herald that only two foreigners had been picked up by police over the vacation period.

�Around 4 million people visited Haeundae during July, but there were only two people that were caught � so it�s a very minor problem,� the police officer said on condition of anonymity.

�The foreigners argued that they did not understand why it was a crime to take photos of the half-naked girls, and said they were only trying to boast to their friends with photos of nice-looking women. It is just a cultural problem.�

He said reason for the letter was to reduce the number of foreign vacationers who go to the beach at the same time for the sake of crime prevention.

�It was just a suggestion. The letter says it will help decreasing the number of foreigner-related crimes if they divided the number of people coming to Haeundae. If they follow it, good; if they don�t, we can�t really do anything about it.�

The officer went on to claim that sex crimes were not the principal motivation for wanting to dilute the concentration of migrant workers at the beach.

�It is just that if too many foreigners come to Haeundae at once, then they tend to fight among themselves. The prevention of sex crimes was not really the main issue for sending the letter.�

An unnamed official from the National Police Agency recently denied to VOA that police had asked companies to keep their workers away from the popular vacation destination.

Police in Haeundae refused to name the companies it had contacted, while The Korea Herald failed to identify any recipients of the letter in a number of calls to firms employing foreigners in the area.

Official agencies involved with migrant issues have seemingly not responded to the incident. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, which deals with multicultural policy, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea and Busan Global Center all said they had not heard of the incident.

The Gender Ministry said it had no position or comment on the matter, while the NHRCK said it would investigate the situation if it received a complaint.

Danny Guerra, community organizer with Solidarity for Migrants, said his organization had not received any complaints about the police�s actions. But he said his organization would be protesting the incident on Sunday at a rally in Busan organized earlier to address changes to the Employment Permit System.

�Of course we are angry about that because it is really a big human rights violation,� he said.

�We are planning to ask the police why they did that � (and) I think we think we will bring that case to the rally.�




I mean you don't hear this sort of carrying on from the Boracay police!
or the pattaya, phuket police!
why do koreans have to always do this? do they really think they are special? they can come to our countries act like fools and do as they please.
but then foreigners come to their country and they should be controlled, monitored and have to go through all these tests, rules, and only be allowed into certain places?
I think it's time the world exposed Koreans and showed the real side of them, not this loving Korean wave, blar blar.
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JustinC



Joined: 10 Mar 2012
Location: We Are The World!

PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 6:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Other countries have units dedicated to dealing with crimes by (and on) foreigners, so sending out a letter because people took photos of your daughter or sister seems unworthy of protest.
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On the other hand



Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue

PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 7:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

JustinC wrote:
Other countries have units dedicated to dealing with crimes by (and on) foreigners, so sending out a letter because people took photos of your daughter or sister seems unworthy of protest.


For example, LA has an Asian Gang Unit. As I believe do many other cities in North America.

Of course, these units probably have a bit more PR savvy than their Korean counterparts. Most of them probably have at least a few Asians in high-profile positions, and talk about doing "community outreach blah blah blah". Plus, they probably don't come right out and say "We really wish there were fewer people of this partcular ethnic group going to this particular area". What they think in private is another matter.
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On the other hand



Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue

PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 7:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I think it's time the world exposed Koreans and showed the real side of them, not this loving Korean wave, blar blar.


ANTI-RACIST ACTIVIST: You wouldn't believe what the Korean police are doing to foreigners at Haeundae beach!!

HALLYU FAN: Yeah, but, like, Wonder Girls are still cool, right?
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Titus



Joined: 19 May 2012

PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 7:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I think it's time the world exposed Koreans and showed the real side of them, not this loving Korean wave, blar blar.


Who is "the world"? Do you mean the New York Times and ethnic activist organizations in USA? Whenever I hear of "the world" I think Thomas L Friedman. Or does the poster think that Argentines, Bolivians and Malaysians are sincerely concerned that Koreans are pissy with Bangladeshi gawking and taking photos of K-girls?

This ethno-masochistic liberalism starts and stops in Western Europeans. The World has other things to fuss about.
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Squire



Joined: 26 Sep 2010
Location: Jeollanam-do

PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 8:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Two crimes all summer and it's an issue now? I wonder what the Korean crime rate there is. Probably more than two crimes this summer. Maybe they should cut the numbers of Koreans there to make it safer for foreigners
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nautilus



Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!

PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 9:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

When you import hundreds of men, hold them in shipping containers for months... without their wives... and Korean prostitutes won't sully their good reputations by having sex with them.....then its not surprising that a couple of them sneak photos of bikini-clad women occasionally.
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fermentation



Joined: 22 Jun 2009

PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 3:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Taking pictures of people without their consent was a crime? Somebody should notify the Korean press.
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radcon



Joined: 23 May 2011

PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 8:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

fermentation wrote:
Taking pictures of people without their consent was a crime? Somebody should notify the Korean press.


I'm curious about this one. Is it legal in Korea to take photos of people out in public?
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fosterman



Joined: 16 Nov 2011

PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 8:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

radcon wrote:
fermentation wrote:
Taking pictures of people without their consent was a crime? Somebody should notify the Korean press.


I'm curious about this one. Is it legal in Korea to take photos of people out in public?


how can it be illegal? paparazzi do it everyday, ever seen a Korean celebrity get out of a starcraft car infront of a department store? so all photographers should not take pictures?
or how about the people in korea dong taking pictures of monuments and historical buildings and people are in the pictures? again illegal?
ohh how about all the CCTV's all over the city and in every building taking pictures and recording every move I make!? illegal? come on..
couple of Indian guys took some pictures at the beach of girls in bikinis, ohh please..!!! how many perv korean guys do you see at motor shows, or mud festival taking pictures of woman!
it's not a crime when Koreans do it. only when foreigners do I I guess..
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Kepler



Joined: 24 Sep 2007

PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 10:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Korean Sentry comments on the issue:

"This isn't the first time, in fact sexual molestation crime by foreign men grew exponentially every year since 2002 and now this crime scene is becoming common crime by foreigners in S.Korea. Haeundae beach resort at Busan used to be one of the most popular sport for Koreans during summer but now this resort have became crime ridden place and S.Koreans and local people try to avoid Haeundae beach due to rise of foreigners."
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fosterman



Joined: 16 Nov 2011

PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 10:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kepler wrote:
Korean Sentry comments on the issue:

"This isn't the first time, in fact sexual molestation crime by foreign men grew exponentially every year since 2002 and now this crime scene is becoming common crime by foreigners in S.Korea. Haeundae beach resort at Busan used to be one of the most popular sport for Koreans during summer but now this resort have became crime ridden place and S.Koreans and local people try to avoid Haeundae beach due to rise of foreigners."

BLAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHHHA
LMFO! yeah right hahahahaha

just do a search on naver or google korea and look at all the pervert websites in korea, by koreans, for koreans! you want to talk about spy cams, upskirt cams, hidden cams, etc.. Koreans are the kings!
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Captain Corea



Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kepler wrote:
Korean Sentry comments on the issue:

"This isn't the first time, in fact sexual molestation crime by foreign men grew exponentially every year since 2002 and now this crime scene is becoming common crime by foreigners in S.Korea. Haeundae beach resort at Busan used to be one of the most popular sport for Koreans during summer but now this resort have became crime ridden place and S.Koreans and local people try to avoid Haeundae beach due to rise of foreigners."


Oh how I miss my KS chums. Their insight into such subjects is always amazing. I am especially amazed at their knowledge of Korea when none of them live here.
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slothrop



Joined: 03 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2012 11:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

edit

Last edited by slothrop on Thu Sep 06, 2012 10:42 pm; edited 1 time in total
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fermentation



Joined: 22 Jun 2009

PostPosted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 4:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

radcon wrote:

I'm curious about this one. Is it legal in Korea to take photos of people out in public?


Technically no. It's called portrait rights (초상권) and taking pictures or publishing pictures without consent is illegal and the victim can be compensated. But like anything else in Korea, the law is only in effect when the authorities feel like it I guess.

Google and naver give me plenty of photos of women in bikinis taken by bloggers and reporters and I'm sure not all (if any) of the women in the pictures were asked before their half-naked bodies were posted online for the world to see. There are also plenty of photos of random foreigners on naver as well, and its pretty obvious they were taken covertly.
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