Korean Job Discussion Forums

Real Reality · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

Nine South Koreans Injured in Toronto
Nine South Koreans were injured in Toronto, Canada, on Monday (local time), when the wall of a language institute they were attending collapsed, the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry said on Wednesday. All victims sustained bruises and scratches with one suffering a broken ankle, ministry official Lee Dong-ki said.

Lee said, however, that the number of Korean victims may increase by one or two, because the Canadian government has yet to provide the full list of those injured. The injured were studying English when the accident happened. One non-Korean died in the accident.
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200312/kt2003121018000911950.htm

Cthulhu · Joined: 02 Feb 2003

Doesn't seem all so different from what I read in the Toronto Star (newspaper) here near Toronto this morning--trust me, we've heard a lot about this story over the past few days. Except perhaps for promoting the Korean angle, which is what any nation would do had they had citizens in the building. Can you point out the bias please?

Real Reality · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

Nine South Koreans were injured in Toronto, Canada, on Monday (local time), when the wall of a language institute they were attending collapsed, the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry said on Wednesday. All victims sustained bruises and scratches with one suffering a broken ankle, ministry official Lee Dong-ki said.

Lee said, however, that the number of Korean victims may increase by one or two, because the Canadian government has yet to provide the full list of those injured. The injured were studying English when the accident happened. One non-Korean died in the accident.

Cthulhu · Joined: 02 Feb 2003

They've been reporting the fact that it was a language school here too--so what? There needs to be a way to explain why the students were in the building at the time. They were studying English.

Hyalucent · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: British North America

Cthulhu · Joined: 02 Feb 2003

That doesn't seem to be what Real Reality is getting at, and anyway, is it really such a big deal to be deserving of a cry for "fair and balanced reporting?"

Mr. Pink · Joined: 21 Oct 2003 Location: China

What I want to know is why they don't credit that story.

Usually they credit AP or some other organization...

My wife heard about this too, I didn't see anything about it looking at thestar.com

Real Reality we both know Korean news is VERY biased towards an angle that will sell news in Korea...a lot of the time the news is untrue reporting.

Real Reality · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

hyalucent,
You seem to understand.

Mr. Pink,
"Korean news is VERY biased towards an angle that will sell news in Korea...a lot of the time the news is untrue reporting."
Exactly.

Cthulhu,
Okay. The subject "fair and balanced reporting?" may need to be revised.

Cthulhu · Joined: 02 Feb 2003

RR,

Okay--fair enough.

Over time you've come up with some good articles and links critical of Korea that I agree with. It's just that sometimes you go overboard and the criticisms are a bit of a stretch, that's all.

Holyjoe · Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Location: Away for a cuppa

noelinkorea · Joined: 09 Apr 2003 Location: Shinchon, Seoul

I did several google searches - I found nothing about this news, and not a thing in the Tornto star...possibly made-up news then? News can't even be biased if it's 100% fictional. I am very sceptical, but welcomed evidence of whether this really happened

Holyjoe · Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Location: Away for a cuppa

Cthulhu · Joined: 02 Feb 2003

Are we talking about the same event that was the front page news in Toronto?

Toronto Star: Theatre collapse kills 1, injures 14

Toronto Sun: Tragic end to 'happy' time

Globe and Mail: Man recalls theatre collapse aftermath

Made up news? I hardly think so.

diver · Joined: 16 Jun 2003

Real Reality's point might be a bit of a stretch, but I do get his point and I do agree with it to some extent. Yes, American (for example) news outlets do often use the phrase 'No Americans died in the incident' because it is newsworthy in the United States.

But, and it is a big BUT, Western news outlets usually do say where the victims were from.
For example: "150 Fictionallandians were killed today when their ferry capsized in Fictionland. No Americans were aboard the ferry"

They do NOT say: "A bunch of foreigners were killed in an accident today, and, thank heaven above, no Americans were killed"

I don't know if the news was 'biased' or not, perhaps insensitive.

In a new twist, the Toronto Star reports that 27 year-old Costa Rican student, Augusto Cesar Mejia Solis gave his life to save 10 year-old Sung-Cho. 'Sung-Cho' sounds like a Korean name to me. I wonder if Mr. Solis will continue to be referred to as a 'non-Korean' in the press if Sung Cho is indeed a Korean.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1071056730978&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154

Side note: noelinkorea, how did that research assistant job work out? Wink

noelinkorea · Joined: 09 Apr 2003 Location: Shinchon, Seoul

I didn't look a few times with key words used from the Korean article, using the Toronto Star's search funtion...but nothing cam up...hhmmm..apologies then....