Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Engrish Mufffin]

I was there today as the government sent gangsters to disrupt the business of the food vendors. They were assaulting people right in front of the police and the police did nothing! Then the gangsters threw the food cart into the street. Later as I was leaving, I saw them break a guy's camcorder because he was filming. Grade-A scumbags.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj4IPtsiuWY

[Jake_Kim]

In this case, they're not 'gangsters' per se, but contracted enforcers in plainclothes under outsourcing contract with respective district office regulators, where these food stalls operate illegally without permits. The cops are briefed in advance by the authorities, and they give much leeway to those hired muscles when it comes to inevitable violence in the process.

[Speck7]

why were they doing this?

[Rockhard]

That's a liberal interpretation of events. That food cart was sitting right in the middle of a sidewalk, illegally. How do you know they were gangsters and just not people from the local stores who are sick and tired on paying enormous rents for that location, while anyone with a cart can operate there for free? Maybe the cop thought it was just to boot the vendor out. Now of course it's all a bit barbaric to us. In our countries the cops would just have a food cart like that towed and that would be the end of it.

[Engrish Mufffin]

[andrewchon]

Maybe somebody will do a Mohamed Bouazizi and we'll have a 'Gangnam Spring', to end the 'gangster style'.

[chuckster]

The food cart may be there illegally, but does that give the government (which ever level it came from) to have other citizens destroy other's property? Kind of doubt it. There are ways to do it, but that's not the right way, especially with almost everyone walking around with a video camera built into their cellphone.

[World Traveler]

Saw this on Facebook:

"But the thing is the street vendors are not just 'small food truck owners'. They have their own union thing and you guys have no idea about how much money they pay to get those spots and how much money they make without paying any tax. MANY of them make 5-10 times more than normal English teachers. How do I know? One of my relatives are one of them. They dress cheap because they don't want to be seen that they make a lot of money doing that. But they drive imported cars."

[Stan Rogers]

Did they have a permit to be there?

Did they have an operating licence?

Did they have insurance?

Did they have a health inspection certificate?

I bet they didn't.

[Engrish Mufffin]