Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gopher]

My hogwon has stacks of back issues of an English-language publication meant for Korean teens, called Teen Times. Its slant can be absurd at times, absurd for the actual analysis and absurd for its simplistic style.

There was an October 2004 issue that dealt with foreigners and crime in Korea, and it concluded that foreigners are inflicting Koreans with violent crime and killing them. It quoted a Korean police official who said that he thinks that foreigners kill Koreans because they are frustrated with Korean society. He said he only hoped that foreigners would stop killing Koreans.

One issue dealt with the Italian who was shot by U.S. troops. The U.S. troops appear like an unthinking, barbaric, killing horde in this newspeice, killing anyone who comes into their sights.

The editors seem set on portraying Korea and Koreans as purely innocent victims of the aggressions of others. Never seen a single Korean fault listed or referenced, even indirectly, in this publication, except for the cartoons that seem to make extremely sarcastic statements about Korean politicians, but I don't get the message for a variety of reasons...

OK, while going through the back issues again this morning, I found one where the Koreans complain about xenophobia in Japan. It's short, so here it is (from 13 July 2004):

A survey carried out by a Japanese newspaper discovered that Korean residents in Japan have mixed feelings about the "Korean Wave" that is currently sweeping Japan.

While some liked the fact that Korean pop culture is popular in Japan and hoped that it will help improve relations between the two countries, others commented that the reality is not as simple as it may seem.

Kim Young, a Japan-born Korean magazine editor, pointed out that Japan is a xenophobic society where foreigners are not easily accepted. He says that he finds Japan's love for Korean culture contradictory.

According to Kim, movies such as Silmido and Brotherhood are popular, but the Japanese don't appreciate the deeper meanings of those films. They don't think about how Japan's colonization of Korea and their support for the division of the Korean peninsula indirectly caused the tragedies that those films portray.

Seo Gyong-seok, who is a writer in Japan, said, "I don't think that the 'Korean Wave' will lead to the end of discrimination against Koreans in Japan. The Japanese may like Korean actors and actresses, but that doesn't mean that they think about the hardships that Korean residents in Japan go through." Koreans in Japan have been 'invisible' in the eyes of the Japanese and Seo thinks that ultimately, this will continue.

Korean celebrities such as Bae Young-joon and Jang Dong-gun have become big stars in Japan. The drama Winter Sonata has created an industry that is worth an estimated 75 million dollars, encompassing videos, Korean language textbooks, packaged holiday tours and even Bae Young-joon wigs.

[Pyongshin Sangja]

http://times.hankooki.com/plaza/pl_teentimes_list.htm

Here's an archive of them. I like how they betray their bias more in something they don't think is being read by many foreigners. Also, the dumbing-down is good. It crystallises things a bit more.

This is cool, Starcraft English.

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/plaza/200508/kt2005081216443255090.htm

[dogbert]

Kim Young, a Japan-born Korean magazine editor, pointed out that Japan is a xenophobic society where foreigners are not easily accepted. He says that he finds Japan's love for Korean culture contradictory.

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The lack of self-awareness is staggering sometimes.