Korean Job Discussion Forums

[khreporter]

The Wednesday 26th edition of Life&Community reports on a volunteer organization offering love and support to orphans in Korea. We also answer some of your questions about Korea's National Pension Scheme. Today's commentary section responds to claims that The Korea Herald is in some way "anti-teacher."

Pick up your copy of The Korea Herald or click on Life&Community on the main page of the Herald website.

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[Ya-ta Boy]

I'm confused.

I looked at the Commentary section and it's an article about Lebanon, not about the 'anti-teacher' allegations. Obviously, I'm looking in the wrong place. What am I doing wrong?

[khreporter]

Apologies for the confusion... the commentary in question will appear on the Life&Community page on Wednesday 26th.

[ttompatz]

[khreporter]

The Wednesday edition of Life&Community is now available online, including the commentary.

[vlcupper]

Well, it's about time you showed yourself. I didn't think you'd have the balls to finally log in and show yourself before you stole more quotes from people on here and other boards.

[Yesanman]

Wanted to read the Herald page in question. Went to google and typed in Korea Herald.
Come's up as:

[Captain Corea]

Personally I'm glad this poster is here. Gives us their perspective on things.

[khreporter]

Please take a look at Wednesday's edition of Life&Community - the link is on the opening page of the newspaper's website.

While we accept criticism, and publish some of the critical comments, the news team will continue in its efforts to bring issues of what we consider to be of concern and interest to a wider audience, and put them in front of decision makers.

You can make a positive contribution to this. If you believe The Korea Herald has been unfair in its reporting, then write to us and state your concerns. If you can write a convincing article pointing out parallels on other non-English teacher message boards, send it in for consideration. Posting barbed messages on this board questioning the motives or professional standards of The Korea Herald might be gratifying, but hardly constructive.

There are plenty of issues worth exploring, and the traditional media is an excellent medium to bring these issues out into the open. You can help in this process. It is up to you.

[Pyongshin Sangja]

It's up to me? It's up to you to stop being such a prat. Koreans depend on illegal teachers. Huge sections of the teaching world here wouldn't exist without illegals. The biggest corporations and government ministries all hire illegals on a regular basis. E-2 visas were sold by corrupt officials in years past. Bribe-taking and collusion are rife. If you stopped blaming teachers and talking about yourself as if you were some superstar reporter instead of a hack with a typewriter on a smear campaign for some rag daily, you'd see that illegal teaching exists in this country because Koreans want and need it that way.

Your question about whether or not I would approve of illegal "hagwons" operating in my hometown shows the pitiable nature of your understanding of Korean EFL. You asssume that there's a level playing field and that we should behave here as if we were in our own country because we owe that much respect to Koreans. Koreans are regularly involved in subversion of our economies through illegal immigration, fraud, discriminatory trade practices, and plain old racism. If Korea didn't treat us as gastarbeitern and gave foreign workers as many rights as Koreans, both in theory and in practice, your argument would hold some water but it doesn't. Koreans bring it upon themselves by creating a culture of dishonesty and nothing has changed in the 5 years I've been here.

As for where I write this, I find it infinitely more gratifying and constructive to write it here than in your joke of a paper. As if the Korea Herald is the arbiter of the foreign "community" here. What pig-headed arrogance.

Maybe you find degrading foreigners makes you more popular with your Korean co-workers, but it really just makes you look more pathetic and self-loathing. Your dripping sarcasm really makes me sick and makes me wonder just how much you know about teaching in this country. You seem to have a very shallow, superficial understanding of just what it takes to survive here and are using your soapbox to beat up on people who are themselves often being taken advantage of by unscrupulous Korean business owners. I hope you enjoy being a useful idiot for Koreans who have no compunctions about engaging in rapacious behaviour towards your country, if you even remember where you come from anymore.

[wylies99]

[diver]

I don't mind an article on some of the unprofessional teachers here. I don't mind articles about the illegal teachers here. As long as it is balanced and doesn't paint us all with the same brush is fine.

I would like to see equal time given to the shady hakwons, the numerous ways we are ripped off, how the goverement does very little to help us (there is a good reason that people do midnight runs). But, I guess we couldn't have that in the Korea Herald could we?

(edited July 28th to correct freudian slip)

[periwinkle]

[wylies99]

diver is right. There's no "fair and balanced" reporting of our issues.

[soviet_man]

Well this is a case of the blind fighting the blind: two delusional right-wing subcultures colliding with each other.

Everyone knows the Korea Times/Korea Herald are entirely useless publications. They seldom contain original news content (most of it lifted from international wire services) and the rest of it being pro-ROK self-praising garbage about useless Korean electronic gadgets, Dokdo, four-distinct seasons, the Korean Wave and other nonsense that either doesn't exist or nobody cares about.

At the same time, waygooks need to realize that there are MANY complete asshats here in the foreign community. There are many that have no particular teaching qualifications. There are many who lack integrity in their personal behavior. There are many who are so westernized in their thinking, their politics and socialization that they have a very inward-looking view of the world and rarely interact with non-foreigners.

So yes absolutely - critisize the Koreans, the KT and the KH for their views and their shitty myths.

But at the same time apply those same critical-thinking standards to other foreigners living in Korea.