Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Benicio]

This is a real "Are you kidding me, Korea?" moment:

One of Korea's worst "journalists", Kang Shin Who, gets awarded "reporter of the month":

http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/2009/11/kang-shin-who-koreas-worst-journalist.html

This is the guy with the Korea Times who is responsible for many of the foreign English teacher bashing articles and giving support to the racist hate group Anti-English Spectrum.
He has been caught on several occasions fabricating quotes and information- it's as if the guy makes it up as he goes along to fit in with his theme of "foreign teachers are evil and proud Koreans must work to expel them".

This guy is a complete tool who seeks to promote racism and trash ALL foreign teachers in Korea.
There has been some speculation recently over whether Kang took the initiative himself to wage this smear campaign against foreign teachers or it is the boss at the Korea Times who inspired it.

Either way, the Korea Times is an awful, race-baiting rag that seeks to be more of a ridiculously sensationalistic tabloid than a real source of news!

[Old Gil]

The KT and Herald are really nothing more than a way for Koreans to practice their English, so it's fitting that they would publish this kind of crap for their audiences.

[eamo]

The KT and KH only really exist because the Korean govt funds them so as to keep up with other Asia-Pacific countries who have English dailies.....it's seen as a badge of a progressive and prosperous country.

.....they certainly don't survive on sales or critical reputation.

[koreastories]

I heard rumours about him and a horse...

[Smee]

Yeah, the Times exists for Koreans to practice their English, to think about practicing their English, and to put on the table to make it look like they're practicing their English.

It's not too much to ask, though, that the paper try and fairly present what's going on in the foreign community that lives in the country. The Times has proven, though, that they simply don't care what English teachers think. All teachers aren't saints, that's for sure, but there's no need to print lies and distortions unless you're pushing an agenda. Kang clearly has one, not only against teachers but against ETS and against Seoul National University.

I know the Times won't clean up their act, so now all we can do is shine the light on this guy's idiocy. I've gotten emails from people at the Times telling me not to judge the paper based totally on loons like Kang and Huer, but really it's really hard to support a paper that continues to hire people like that. What Koreans seem to forget is that other people can read what's out there. When the paper runs crap against foreigners . . . um, "foreigners" in other countries (i.e., natives) can read it, and get an idea of what some in the media think about us.

What really hurts is that there aren't any competitors in the business. The Herald and Joongang Ilbo have interesting stuff---the other papers and sites aren't much---but the Times usually has the most news, and the most sensational news. Where else are people going to get their news?

[pkang0202]

Who wants to take a trip to the Korea Times? I'd love to see the look on the face of Kang Shin Woo when a group of 20 Foreign Teachers show up at the Times and demand he explain himself.

[falco]

[Joe666]

koreastories wrote:

[benji1422]

The "intelligentsia" elite in Korea is the exact opposite of in the West, just like dialing emergency is 119 instead of 911.

The more Western educated, wealthy, and book-read men in Korea are at the core of the racist/xenophobe/communist/anti-foreigner attitudes in the media.

Journalists, many of whom would be part of the "enlightened" usually liberal media elite if they were in the west, make up the bulk of these knobs you are constantly running up against.

It sounds counter intuitive, but I can't tell you how many times well-traveled, well-educated businessmen and professionals immediately start spouting racist xenophobic (not to mention anti-semetic) b-s right to my face.

I have a hunch its because once they go to university or graduate school in the foreign country (usually U.S.) they are humiliated when they realize how much Korean women studying along side them resent their patriarchal society. Watching western porn doesn't help either. When they return home spend time trying to justify their actions by playing the blame game.

The coolest ahjusshis are the people who never left Korea and want to be your soju buddy. Beware of non-accented English speaking Harvard graduate. Inside this man, often times, lurks an angry Hitler.

[dirving]

[Smee]

You're welcome to express your disappointment with the Korea Times via email:

[email protected]

However, not sure it'll do any good, since I think they've heard it all before.

One reader emailed them:

[Bbang!]

[bish]

[koreastories]

[oskinny1]

Every time I see "East Sea" or "West Sea" in any of their articles I just stop reading it. They are supposed to be a news paper, not spreading propaganda.