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RJjr
Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Location: Turning on a Lamp
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 Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:17 pm Post subject: Hub of Asia |
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I went to a well-known bank in South Korea during my work contract and it went like this:
Banker: Hello?
RJ: Good morning. I would like to open a savings account.
Banker: We can only open accounts for Koreans.
RJ: I live and work here in Seoul. I'm needing to open a bank account in Korea and would really like an account here, if possible. Please?
Banker: You're not Korea people.
Fast forward to this past week, I went to Singapore and walked into a bank of the exact same name and it went like this:
Banker: Are you currently working in Singapore?
RJ: No sir.
Banker: Are you currently living in Singapore?
RJ: No sir. I'm just on vacation.
Banker: What's your job?
RJ: I don't have one.
Banker: Why do you want an account with us?
RJ: I've been working in South Korea for the past year and I'm needing an account with a bank in Asia that can handle all of my banking needs. Oh, and an international ATM card would be nice.
Banker: Okay. We need your employment history, your passport, and we need you to fill out this form.
(Filled out and handed the form to the banker)
Twenty minutes later:
Banker: Okay, Mr. RJ. Your account has been approved. All we need is for you to key in a pin number and you're all set. Here's your ATM card and some reading material. Have a great vacation and contact us if there's ever anything else we can do for you. |
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just because
Joined: 01 Aug 2003
Location: Changwon - 4964
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:31 pm Post subject: |
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I have 3 different bank accounts at 3 different Korean banks, all opened independently by myself.....
whatever Korean bank you went to, the teller must be a fool.... |
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in_seoul_2003
Joined: 24 Nov 2003
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:51 pm Post subject: |
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| I think he's referring too an international bank like Citigroup or HSBC since the banks were of "the exact same name." |
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in_seoul_2003
Joined: 24 Nov 2003
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 9:57 pm Post subject: |
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On a related note, the banks here in Korea, even the ones of the same name, are inconsistent. For example,
KB Myeongdong--can't send more than 60% of your pay home.
KB Jamsil--can send home however much you like and no one pays any mind to it.
KB Itaewon--forbidden to deposit money in another person's account not in your name without the Korean ID of that person's name.
KB Myeongdong--no problem.
I can list alot of other KB locations as well that fit into the same contradictory scheme. It can get annoying at times since you assume that one bank will do what another of the same name has done, but not the case. |
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hogwonguy1979
Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: the racoon den
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 10:58 pm Post subject: |
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| in_seoul_2003 wrote: |
On a related note, the banks here in Korea, even the ones of the same name, are inconsistent. For example,
KB Myeongdong--can't send more than 60% of your pay home.
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that employee who said that ought to be fired on the spot, that rule was abolished IN 1997 |
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Butterfly
Joined: 02 Mar 2003
Location: Kuwait
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:19 pm Post subject: |
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Well I believe the OP was dealing with an idiot bank clerk rather than a bad bank.
Also, it always irritates me the way expats sneer at hub of asia. I believe it was always intended as a mission statement rather than an actual description of Korea.
I think if you ask most educated Korean people, they will admit to the xenophobia that is intrinsic in their country and indeed it is not something Korea really likes about itself. 'Hub of Asia' I believe was always intended to actually combat these attitudes, as if to say, "If we want to be the hub of asia, and we have the infrastructure to attain this goal, then we are going to have to put certain things in place before that can become a reality." Koreans have an immense national pride, done a disservice by xenophobia, hub of asia was intended among other things, I believe, to separate their patriotism from their racism and place them as opposites, which I thought was pretty smart.
The idiot bank clerk the OP encountered is precisely what 'hub of asia' was designed to combat |
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in_seoul_2003
Joined: 24 Nov 2003
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:31 pm Post subject: |
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| hogwonguy1979 wrote: |
| in_seoul_2003 wrote: |
On a related note, the banks here in Korea, even the ones of the same name, are inconsistent. For example,
KB Myeongdong--can't send more than 60% of your pay home.
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that employee who said that ought to be fired on the spot, that rule was abolished IN 1997 |
Then there are all the banks that insist you can't send home more than 1.3 million and need a letter from the school. |
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JMO
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 11:50 pm Post subject: |
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| Butterfly wrote: |
Well I believe the OP was dealing with an idiot bank clerk rather than a bad bank.
Also, it always irritates me the way expats sneer at hub of asia. I believe it was always intended as a mission statement rather than an actual description of Korea.
I think if you ask most educated Korean people, they will admit to the xenophobia that is intrinsic in their country and indeed it is not something Korea really likes about itself. 'Hub of Asia' I believe was always intended to actually combat these attitudes, as if to say, "If we want to be the hub of asia, and we have the infrastructure to attain this goal, then we are going to have to put certain things in place before that can become a reality." Koreans have an immense national pride, done a disservice by xenophobia, hub of asia was intended among other things, I believe, to separate their patriotism from their racism and place them as opposites, which I thought was pretty smart.
The idiot bank clerk the OP encountered is precisely what 'hub of asia' was designed to combat |
You call yourself 'hub of asia' people are going to make fun. If Ireland started calling itself 'hub of europe' I would have a field day. |
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Young FRANKenstein
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Location: Castle Frankenstein (that's FRONKensteen)
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| Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 12:32 am Post subject: |
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| Butterfly wrote: |
| I believe it was always intended as a mission statement |
"Mission Control, we have a problem." |
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Grimalkin
Joined: 22 May 2005
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| Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 1:33 am Post subject: |
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Me: I want to transfer money from my account here to an account in England.
Bank Clerk: It's not possible to do this from this bank.
Me: But I've done it several times before.
Bank Clerk: Yes but you need your passport to do it.
Me: No problem. I have my passport with me.
Bank Clerk: (akward silence....) Can you come back tomorrow, the person who knows how to do that isn't in today. |
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Julius
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 6:13 am Post subject: |
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Korea has no chance of being East Asias trading hub until they drop the xenophobia.
Korea compares massively unfavorably with any other country in Asia that you care to name. I know, I've been to them all. |
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ajuma
Joined: 18 Feb 2003
Location: Anywere but Seoul!!
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| Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 6:34 am Post subject: |
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Just so everyone knows, at the Post Office, you can send up to 1000 USD for W10,000. Not a bad price!
Your branch may not have done it yet so it may take some time for them to figure it out, but after that, it's a breeze, especially if you take your copy of the last transaction with you when you go the second time. |
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Satori
Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Location: Above it all
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| Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2007 11:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Butterfly wrote: |
Well I believe the OP was dealing with an idiot bank clerk rather than a bad bank.
Also, it always irritates me the way expats sneer at hub of asia. I believe it was always intended as a mission statement rather than an actual description of Korea.
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I think it's fine to sneer at hub of asia even as a mission statement considering they are so far off it and so little progress is being made. |
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Butterfly
Joined: 02 Mar 2003
Location: Kuwait
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| Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 1:07 am Post subject: |
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| Julius wrote: |
| Korea has no chance of being East Asias trading hub until they drop the xenophobia. |
Yes and how would you get Korea to drop it's xenophobia? Set a goal, based on national pride. This was what hub of Asia was about in part.
| Quote: |
You call yourself 'hub of asia' people are going to make fun. If Ireland started calling itself 'hub of europe' I would have a field day.
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Well, I think if Korea can tolerate the ridicule of its resident English teachers, it can, has and will make progress towards becoming a more cosmopolitan entitiy, and a very clear distinction made between pride in one's country and dislike and mistrust of foreigners. Hub of Asia was a good idea for Korea I think, though I don't think the brains that cooked it up really thought it truly possible outside of a few very specific sectors, but it did lead to Seoul City Hall for example, offering a forum with the mayor present, and the foreigners help center etc. Things got much better than when I was first there and Hub of Asia contributed to that.
| satori wrote: |
| I think it's fine to sneer at hub of asia even as a mission statement considering they are so far off it and so little progress is being made. |
On the contrary, I think quite a lot of progress has been made, if one is to compare Korea today to Korea even five years ago. The sneers are fine and they generally come from disgruntled English Teachers anyway, but even a small improvement has surely made hub of Asia worth it.
| Dufus wrote: |
| "Mission Control, we have a problem." |
boom boom.
Last edited by Butterfly on Tue Jul 03, 2007 1:28 am; edited 1 time in total |
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endo
Joined: 14 Mar 2004
Location: Seoul...my home
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| Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 1:26 am Post subject: |
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| Hub of Asia my ASS!!! |
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