Korean Job Discussion Forums

[prairiemaker]

A few days back I called the India embassy and asked if there is any way I might help the captain of Hebei Spirit, Mr.Chawla and his first mate, Mr. Chetan. As most of you know, both have been imprisoned despite the fact the Hebei Spirit was anchored at port and rammed by a Samsung�s ship. In a lower Korean court they were found innocent. They were tried again in a higher Korean court a second time though and this time they were imprisoned. All the Koreans involved with the accident have been either found innocent, including Samsung, or their fines and sentences dropped or reduced.

After two and half years in Korea I am used to the xenophobic prejudice I see daily, but this just seemed so unjust that I felt compelled to act. I want to make clear I am not a Korean basher, in fact this time last year I wrote an article that defended the Korean government. It is just that the incredible injustice of this entire thing really made me angry.

So, I called the India embassy. I said my wife and I were outraged by the court verdict and we would like to help somehow. To my surprise I was patched through to the secretary of the ambassador and then to the first secretary. The first secretary told me nothing was being done to help the two and that in fact great effort was being made to sweep the whole thing under the rug. They asked me if I would be willing to come to the embassy and meet Mr. Chawla�s and Mr. Chetan�s wives who were leaving the next day to return to India since Korea would not grant them a stay in their visa.

My wife and I left Wonju for Seoul on NewYears Eve morning and met at the Embassy with everyone at three in the afternoon. We finished our meeting around six. Now home the following day I still cannot get the faces of the wives out of my mind, their grief and their just anger. In a few days I will complete my research and try to get their story out here and internationally. There is much to this story that is not being put in print. When the India embassy and the wives spoke with my wife and me we were stunned. We went and had a beer that night, but we neither one finished it. We just no longer felt like celebrating a new year. At midnight we could here the fireworks outside from our hotel room. We both just pulled the covers closer to our faces and hoped to fall asleep.

I will try to get as much publicity for them as I can through my limited writing ability and networking. I hope some of you also will consider trying to get this story more publicity if only by doing nothing else than just telling one Korean how sick it makes you that Korea has done this to two innocent foreigners. I hope you will consider contacting various ecological groups who might be outraged enough to add to the voice that an oil spill occurred causing incredible damage and that those who were really responsible walked away and innocent people were imprisoned. I hope you will ask yourselves how can I help spread the word of this injustice and how I feel about it.

I know for some of you, to become involved at all with this issue will seem stupid and a waste of time. However, I hope some of you recognize that this kind of blatant injustice affects the security and well being of every foreigner standing on Korean soil. If you feel compelled at all to speak out please do. You have much more power than you think.

[Goku]

As much as I think on principal alone you are doing the right thing... and I think certainly that you are valiant...

From a practical and realistic point of view, it may be absurd to think you can make a difference. Although you are a voice, like you said, in a xenophobic culture, your voice matters little.

You will have no weight when talking to authorities, and at this time you do not have the power to make any change.

But certainly good luck. It is an injustice but I think your energies are better diverted to things you can actually change.

[traxxe]

If you need help with anything let me know as I'm outraged about this issue just as you are. Don't let others discourage you. There is never any harm in standing up for what is right. This situation is not right and it is a sad testament to racism in this country.

[exit86]

I think if the OP fills us in here on more of the untold story, many more of us (including myself) would be moved to action. Of course, the MODS will probably delete your information because they--like most governmental and public organizations in Korea--are moved more by Korean popular sentiment than anything else.
How about PM's if asked for? I'd recommend writing a standard
info letter and sending it off to whomever PMs you and asks for it.
Could I be the first?

The only way to get Korea to change its shotty practices is to bring shame upon it from the outside. Show the outside world the injustice and stupidity, and changes will be made quickly (or a visible show of change will be acted out, which is a start I guess).

I'm more than willing to help show the world Korea's unjust ruling in this matter.

[cruisemonkey]

Who owns the Hebei Spirit?

What is her port of registry?

What were the co-ordinates at the time of the accident?

[Thunndarr]

[Ukon]

Does the Indian government normally back down this easily?

[Thunndarr]

Yet another article. God damn.


http://www.itfglobal.org/news-online/index.cfm/newsdetail/2890

[Donald Frost]

Contact the poster known as KHerald. He's Matthew Lamers, and he is an employee of the Korea Herald newspaper. Amnesty International and the U.N.'s leader - a Korean - should also be informed of this incredibly injust story.

[cruisemonkey]

[Konglishman]

[Straphanger]

Wow, cool. Another issue I have no stake in and no reason to get involved with. This is great guys, keep it up!

[prairiemaker]

Thanks everybody for respondining. Here are some comments on what has been posted so far. Please forgive me if I do not answer as quickly or as deeply as what you would like. I am trying to research for the article at the same time. I really deeply appreciate the interest though. Thank you all for taking time to comment.

First to Goku,

I really understand your sentiment and for many years shared the same view. I used to wonder why people even bothered and I actually used to feel anybody who got involved in any sort of activism was a little screwy. This view changed when as a requirement to finish my master�s degree I had to do community activism. You had to come up with a project that somehow changed your community for the better. My project grew into an ecological movement that is still going today that saved hundreds of acres of the rarest ecosystem in the world. One of the most profound things in helping bring about change is the discovery of the enormous power to effect change that you truly have. I personally do not believe anyone should get involved in anything that is not personally important to them. There is too much of this false idea of service already around. I hope though Goku, you will find something important to you and get involved. You have incredible power to effect change.

For Thunndarr, thanks for posting the wikepidia article. This should help clarify some things. The collusion aspects are part of what I cannot discuss and were the most disturbing aspect of what was reviled to me other than the treatment of the captain Chawla and Mr. Cheetan.

For cruisemonkey,

The Hebie Spirit is owned by a man in China. The India embassy voiced their disgust at his lack of concern in this matter.

The port of registry is Hong Kong

I probably have the co-ordinates in the piles of papers I have but I have not found it yet. I will post when I do.

To Donald Frost. Thank you. This is good advice.

To traxxe, Thanks for your support!

For exit 86 I hope this gives you some info:
More information:

Some of the things I would like to share I cannot because the India embassy asked me not to. This is largely around the areas of alleged collusion as discussed in the wikepdia article posted by Thunndarr. Some of this information passed on to me concerning this by both the India embassy and the wives of the two men sickened me. Some of the things I would like to share I will not until I research further. I can say that witness who worked for Samsung on the ship and had agreed to testify for the Captain Chawla and crew of the Hebie Spirit strangely did not testify, but I can say no more about this. I cannot share the professional reviews or comments of attorneys on the legal aspects except to say nobody in the international law and maritime legal community feels justice was served and I would challenge anyone to produce one legitimate legal representative outside of Korea that does agree with this ruling. In fact the Captain Chawla operated so professionally that he was nominated for the highest maritime award, The Shipmaster of the Year Award for his leadership, courage and command in defense of his vessel. This case has been reviewed by numerous unbiased experts who all except for Korea say the Captain and crew preformed their duties perfectly and beyond. If you read a few of the articles on Goggle or watch the you tube video some of the details of what happened are explained. I am presently researching the translated judgment as well as international attorneys� comments on the judgment. (I have been asked not to post these or discuss them since this case will be retried in a higher court. There is just nothing these guys did wrong.

The conditions of the two men being held are terrible. For the first fifteen days they were kept in small dark cells with no toilet, no heat, and not allowed to exercise. They are not allowed to follow there Hindu diet. They have a little better cells know, but are allowed to shower once a week. There visiting time was were for only five minutes but the India embassy have now got them to allow their wives twenty minutes visit. Unfortunately the wives were not allowed to stay in the country to visit and were forced to return to India to reapply today. Please keep in mind that these are both men of a great deal of status in India and the maritime world. They both have no criminal record of any sort in the past. Also keep in mind they have been detained in Korea ever since the oil spill. The prosecuting attorneys assured everyone nobody would be detained and that this was only a formality. Everybody believed this until they discovered they had been lied to as the men were handcuffed and paraded in display on their way to prison.

One of the things we would really like to see happen is the men be given bail and remain detained in Korea until the next trail. So far Korean courts will not give a date for a ruling on the bail.

[NoExplode]

I'd love to picket, but I'd get deported me in a NY minute.

[traxxe]

So who in Korean politics or government can one write to in order to express displeasure with the treatment of these innocent men?