Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Sleepy in Seoul]

Damn, I was really enjoying getting worked up about that.

Now where am I going to vent that frustration? I am so gullible!!

[Real Reality]

In traditional Korean society there was a strong heritage of private philanthropy. People used to give money and time to the needy within the boundaries of community and kinship systems. However, as society became modernized, the spirit of philanthropy waned gradually. Comprehensive and accurate data on philanthropic activities of individuals, foundations or corporations in Korea are hardly available.

Korean people are usually irregular givers and volunteers. Only 30% of people surveyed give regularly (including religious donation; the figure is only 16% if religious giving is excluded). However, 36% Korean are regularly involved in volunteering.... Detailed information about corporate giving, however, is not available because of the lack of transparency in their operations.
Philanthropy and the Third Sector in Asia and the Pacific
http://www.asianphilanthropy.org/countries/overview_details.cfm?country=6&id=1

Economic aid - donor (2004)
South Korea: $200 million

Japan: $7 billion
United States: $6.9 billion

Australia: $894 million
Austria: $520 million
Belgium: $1.072 billion (2002)
Canada: $1.3 billion (1999)
Denmark: $1.63 billion (1999)
Finland: $379 million (2001)
France: $5.4 billion (2002)
Germany: $5.6 billion (1998)
New Zealand: $99.7 million
CIA -- The World Factbook
Field Listing - Economic aid - donor
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fields/2062.html

How much did South Korea donate in 2003?
South Korea: $0 per person
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/eco_eco_aid_don_cap

The financial crisis led the International Monetary Fund and the United States to organize a $57 billion bailout package, which included $1.7 billion from the United States, in January 1998. Potentially, there are many more billions to come, many of them through the IMF, to which Washington is the largest contributor. (Originally, the United States planned to contribute only $5 billion as part of a financial backup, should it prove necessary; it took barely a month for American taxpayers to be moved up to the frontlines.) On top of the U.S. share of the IMF bailout is $1 billion--the ROK originally asked for $1.6 billion--in credit guarantees for the purchase of American agricultural products, as well as a half billion dollar increase in Export-Import Bank credit insurance.
South Korea's Dual Dependence on America
by Doug Bandow
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-308.html

Adoptions: Korean disgrace
....50 years since the end of the Korean War has become the 12th largest economy in the world, is a history that continues to allow itself to be marred by the unequal circumstances of poverty, social conservatism, political inferiority, missionary zeal, racism, prejudice, ignorance, the unequal status of women and a lack of social welfare and sex education. The simple fact that South Korea continues to export its children abroad, at the rate of more than 2,000 babies per year, especially when the domestic birth rate is at an all-time low, is nothing less than a disgrace.
by Kim Stoker
JoongAng Daily (August 17, 2004)
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200408/17/200408172214553079900090109013.html

[matthewwoodford]

[Barking Mad Lord Snapcase]

[Barking Mad Lord Snapcase]

[Real Reality]

I'm afraid, with the general trend in this country; most people take the law as well as rules and regulations lightly and violate them routinely and without any compunction. It is probably because so many people are breaking the law and getting away with it so easily that many law-abiding citizens feel they will be cheated and lose out, unless they, too, violate or at least bend, the law where personal gains are at stake.

What's more, they figure it is worth taking a risk because even if they get caught, they will probably come out a winner on balance as the country's revolving-door justice would not only let them out of prison in the shortest time possible but also clear their name and restore their civil rights. Ours is an intensely competitive society as so many people live in such a small and limited land. We are forced, as a result, to be aggressive and overly selfish just to keep up with - let alone, take a step ahead of - others. In other words, just to make a living and survive, most people come to believe that it is unavoidable sometimes to bend or ignore the laws and regulations.
A lawless world
by Cho Se-hyon, The Korea Herald (November 30, 2004)
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2004/11/30/200411300009.asp

[jajdude]

Referring to the original post: it does help explain why foreigners are such outsiders in Korea.

Did you ever feel how awkward it is when a new student enters a classroom, kids, not adults? Is it so awkward in the west? Of course we didn't go to hagwons with small classes, but... it seems the warm-up period is longer in Korea. You can see kids, especially of different ages, even just a year apart, sit next to or near each other for months in a class of less than ten students, and the ice is barely broken...

[dogbert]