Korean Job Discussion Forums

[lpcool]

I'm sure many of you have been told this by your Korean friends, colleagues, etc. Most Koreans seem to have this firm belief, to the point of a religion, that they are made up of "one ethnicity" and that they're all "one people".

I mean, of course, I'd buy that they all share similar racial/ethnic characteristics, and yes this country IS probably the most homogeneous nation I've ever come across. But this "one people" thing is more than that - they seem to think that they're "all related somehow by blood".

How can a whole population that's supposedly been around for almost 5,000 years that's had so many invasions from its neighbors (and intermarriage, rape etc.) and which supposedly contributed to the Japanese civilization be made up of "one ethnic group" distinct from the said neighbors?????

[gatohorrible]

Uhhh you said it. Bang on. right question, right answer.


That's the difference between the 'world according to Ajossi' and the rest of the world. Have you tried to argue with a deaf and dumb mute, who has only a collection of one book ?

It's sure more fun than spending all of ur working day 'talking to' korean nationalists/ Korean hagwon students/ most of the koreans.

KKKorea is the White South Africa of asia without the blacks. They only let the whites in to teach them the language of capitalism or stop their 'brothers' up north hassling them. Both ways they win- pay less tax for defence, get highly educated westerners to live in mud huts and fob them off after 11 months with no severence pay/ return airfare etc.
How do they manage to con you into doing it ?

[IconsFanatic]

Homogenous Korea?

Hahahhahah!

The Busan-Gwangju rivalry is just one example of many extremely bitter regional divisions.

I went to a Lotte Giants (Busan) baseball game the past month when they played Gwangju, and my girlfriend wouldn't dare translate the abuse that fans were hurling at each other.

I'm actually off to Gwangju with the Busan I'cons supporters club on June 15th. I've already painted an anti-Jeolla slogan on huge styrofoam placards. Wish me luck!

[gatohorrible]

Homogenous Korea?

Hahahhahah!

The north-South rivalry is just one .............


50 years of hate, never stop believing....
3 wounds on the shirt,
never stop the bleedin'...

[anae]

Korea might like to keep itself culturally homogenous, but it is not in the sense of blood or race or whatever some might tell you. There are very few countries which are. I can only think of Iceland at the moment.

My husband is Korean, but his family name, Shim, is from China. I hardly think his is the only one.

As other posters have said there have been other movments of people into and out of Korea such as the Japanese, Chinese, Portugese, and those people from countries involved in the Korean war.

[Tiger Beer]

they are only homogeneous in their head.. and homogeneous to the extreme up there..

the blood is mixed though..

[Trinny]

Tiger beer's post bangs on!

Yeap, if my memory serves me right. I remember reading a report that says Koreans have 70% North Asian and 30% South Asian blood. My father side of family has a mixed parentage.

[Medic]

It's also why they think they have special connections and feelings, that a foreigner could never comprehend. They don't, but they continue to harp on them until the cows come home. The sooner they realise that their unconcious or subconcious concepts aren't special the better.

[William Beckerson]

I've only had this experience once. While I was unemployed and staying with my friend and his family, his sister came back from Taiwan (she married a Tiawanese dude she met while studying English in Canada) and stayed with us.

She kept asking me if I noticed anything special about Korea.

"Nope. Everyone here here gets up, works, loves and eats just like everyone else I've met."

She got a bit huffy and tried to convince me that there's some sort of deep-rooted (almost mystical) way of thinking...

Later my friend told me something he said once to me back in Canada, "Koreans can be narrow-minded." Which shows that not all Koreans are the same, even in the same family.

[Korea Newfie]

[Tiger Beer]

[gatohorrible]

It 's not that they have the feelings that are different ..they don't, kick a korean hard and they' ll squeal like anyone, or a cat or dog.

What matters is the 'discourse'. It starts at home and in school; its an exclusive discourse, in that it 'excludes' non members.

kind of like the KKK or Nazi germany, or Terreblanche's lot in South Africa were , in that it is based on the 'idea' not truth, that blood lines are the necessary condition for memebership.
It is a deeply anti- Christian, anti-life world view that should be smashed as much as Nazism, the KKK or the NP in South Africa. Or the national front in france, or the BNP in Britain.
In Korea because you don't see many black shirted goose steppers or skinheads, many foreign ESL teachers seem to think it is not there. Last year should be a warning to you.
Why waste your life teaching the children of racists or racists themsleves?
You are doing nothing to change their beliefs about 'westerners' .

Challenge them today !!!!!!!!
Give them a little racial awareness quiz.
Go on - have a grain of integrity.

[On the other hand]

Gato quote: Why waste your life teaching the children of racists, or racists themselves?

Given my experience and knowledge of English-speaking nations, I'd reckon that the phrase "children of racists" would include a lot of people now alive in those countries. The American Deep South is one of the more obvious cases. And even as for the racists themselves, at the end of the day, who cares? If I had a job as an accountant, say, back in Canada, and it was paying me well and keeping me fed, I doubt that I'd just pack up shop because I discovered that some of my clients had racist opinions, so long as the work I did for them did not facilitate the spread of those opinions. Now, if I were asked to do the books for the National Front or the local holocaust-denial outfit, I'm pretty sure I'd refuse to associate my name with that sort of thing. But, work for individual racists? I'd bet most tradesmen in all countries do that every day of their lives. "Better not put gas in THIS guy's car, Pete. I hear he's a racist!"

[gatohorrible]

U r not putting gas in their car . ur facilitating their english acumen - which means they can communicate their nonsensical worldviews to 'foreigners' via the internet. u r helping them in a major way to become global players even further with their nationalist, anti refugee , selfish me me me national agenda.


Persoanlly I d rather eat my own shite than help KKKoreans get economically stronger.

[On the other hand]

Gato: Well, the racist might use the gas in his car to go to a dinner party and spread his views around the table. Heck, he might even be on his way to a Klan meeting. And, if I'm his regular pump jockey, you could argue that I'm playing a pivotal role in spreading his views.
By the same token, yes, some Koreans might use their English skills to spread pro-Korean racism on the internet(though I doubt there's much of a market among native English speakers for ideas about the inate superiority of Koreans). But they might also use it to read foreign books about the outside world, books that will show them the ideas and values of cultures other than Korea. Are you going to tell me that Koreans never read books about countries other than Korea?
Some of my students have used the English they've learned to either travel to other countries, or relocate to those countries permanently. I would think that both travel and relocation are good ways to broaden one's world view. "Gee, my homestay family here in London ALSO has a sense of community. Guess its NOT just a Korean thing". I put this to you, Gato: Battling Korean racism seems to be your goal in life(or at least on this forum), and its a laudable one; too many ex-pats carry on with romanticized noble savage ideas of "eastern wisdom" and whatnot, gobbling up ideologies that they would dismiss as racist garbage if espoused by westerners. But, how do you expect Korea to ever become an open and tolerant society, if its citizens are denied a working knowledge of the lingua franca? And, if you think that fighting Korean racism is a lost cause, why do you continue on with the task in these hallowed quarters?