Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Trevor]

The official word from the United States Government:

FOREIGNERS ARE NOT KOREAN: Korean society in general makes a great distinction between one's inner circle of family, friends and business colleagues, and outsiders. One should always treat one's inner circle with complete respect and courtesy, while one treats strangers with indifference. Korea is not an egalitarian society; one is either of a higher or a lower status than other people. How do foreigners fit into this scheme? The simple answer is - they don't. Foreigners are completely off the scope.
In recent years, less than 10 percent of Koreans traveled abroad, most often on group tours with other Koreans, or on business trips. Even now, with outbound tourism high, most Korean travelers still visit only friends, relatives or Korean neighborhoods, or travel in groups of other Koreans. Thus, Korean society remains very inwardly focused. [b]For most Koreans, foreigners exist only as stereotypes, and are not always liked.[/b] Living in Korea as a foreigner requires patience and fortitude. Many foreigners have found Koreans can be quite friendly and warm, but a foreigner will seldom be accepted as part of the inner circle; he will almost always be an outsider looking in.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/living/teaching/teaching_1240.html

[Forward Observer]

This is old news

[eamo]

[Skippy]

[eamo]

[caniff]

Imo, being "off the scope" is what makes the place liveable, and for many, even enjoyable.

I never understood why some non-Koreans bemoan the fact that Koreans don't really accept them into their inner-circle/society. Why would anyone (even those married to a Korean, as I am) feel screwed over by this? It's a blessing, ferchissakes.

Being an alien has some disadvantages, to be sure, but generally not nearly enough of them to outweigh the benefits.

[The Gipkik]

I think most foreigners living in Korea have grasped this reality already. It's pretty obvious. The inner circle truly is like a bubble. So are Koreans ethnocentric bubble heads? This is why the Japanese were so capable of committing the most outrageous atrocities and torture during the second world war without compunction. The enemy wasn't human. This sounds pathological, actually, and implicitly states something wrong about how certain cultures, societies, raise their young. This kind of cultural branding should be outlawed as an unacceptable means of nurturing and educating the young, especially during times of peace and in a world that is trying to overcome the fetishistic need to trumpet war and violence when confronted by conflict. That said, I must admit to having problems with the idea of nationhood in itself.

[Joe666]

The Gipkik wrote:

[Pwillig]

Look at the date it was posted:

[eIn07912]

It's true. And one way you can tell is that myself and several others, have never read the state department site on (south) Korea, and we have all come to the exact same conclusion. Almost word for word. It only takes a matter of months to realize your place here and where you do or don't fit in. It's a huge smack to the face when you come to that conclusion. Reality... aint it a b*tch?

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Trevor]

One thing that I always felt uncomfortable with when I lived in the United States was being identified within a social class. I have never liked feeling that I was above or below someone else, and like the U.S. State Department informs us, we are completely off the radar, socially, in Korea. And yes, I kind of like it that way.

The biggest dilemma concerning this very well-known issue is, in my opinion, healthcare. Yes, doctors very often treat your physical, foreign body as having little or no significance within their heirarchy of values. Yes! Being a nonperson in Korea can actually manifest itself into the physical realm of healtchare in very, very troubling ways. I think it is important for anyone seeking healtchare for any moderately serious issue to understand that. It doesn't mean you will necessarily get bad healthcare, but it definitely means you are in danger of getting indifferent healthcare.

[roadwork]

I agree with a couple of other posters here. Being that we don't fit in and aren't part of the "inner circle" (makes me think of the reggae band) we are excluded from a majority of the cultural requirements, and as such, we float like ghosts under the radar. Another bonus of being a foreigner is by continuously doing business with certain merchants, at certain random times you will be entitled to "service". This can be anything from a free dry cleaned tie, to an extra handful of strawberries at the market to a 2 dollar discount on a bunch of meat at the supermarket.

[lifeinkorea]

It's good if you are independent, but as soon as you try to work together to find common goals, the differences are usually shoved to the forefront.

Frustration kicks in, and you have to decide to get along without much productive interaction.

In defense of the Korean attitude, I think we are also stereotyping Koreans as if they all accept each other. As the article mentioned, this is tribal and I am sure Koreans also treat each other the same at times as if they were foreigners.

[Aelric]

While this is still largely true (ok, it's hugely true), it is better than 1997 when this was written and every real old timer I've talked to admits it. Two more generations, that's all it'll take. just let the current kids have kids and I guarantee those kids will be this countries Gen X. Then, just maybe, we'll see some progress outside of Seoul. A generation after that and they will be too stupid to feed themselves, but that is universally true.