Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tiger fancini]

How do Koreans respond to kids that have mixed parentage? Like one Korean parent, and one foreign parent? From what I've seen in my small town, there are only a tiny number of these kids and they are all very young so perhaps they don't have to address it yet. But as these kids get older, and more of them are born, I wonder what Koreans attitudes to them will be? Will they be "one of us", or will they subjected to the wayguk thing.

Incidentally, I personally don't think that being referred to as a wayguk is racially offensive. To me, it is how Korean people perceive non-Koreans. I do think that the Korean people as a whole are still at an early stage of awareness of, and empathy with, non-Korean people.

[OCOKA Dude]

[Paddycakes]

I recall hearing from somewhere that the in the Vietnam war the US soldiers used to call the locals "Gooks"...

This term originated from the Korean war experience, where Koreans called the US soldiers some derivative of "gook".... waygook, migook, etc.

In an act of "defiance" against institutionalized racism of the Korean power system (note the use of post-colonial post modern terms here), the US soldiers flipped the term around and started referring to Koreans as "Gooks".

So from now on we should refer to all Koreans as "Gooks" in the spirit of historical continuity, among other things.

[Young FRANKenstein]

[Captain Corea]

It's racist in that you can never get away from it if you do not look Korean.

You could live here for 3 generations and you would still get it - regardless of your nationality.

When they see a white face (or black, or whatever doesn't fit their stereotype of what a Korean should look like) they use the term.

It might not always be known to be offensive, but then again, a wile back, negro was a common term.

[ajgeddes]

Whether I am right or wrong, I don't care, but I kind of always think of 외국인 as the equivalent of using Oriental. It isn't really offensive, but some people take it as that, so it ruins it for the rest of us.

[Smee]

About a year ago I made a poll about this, and we had a lot of good comments going, but I can't find it.

It does bother me in certain situations. I hate being the "foreigner" at school, and I appreciate it that my bosses use "원어민" or "영어교사" instead. And, it always irritates me when Koreans refer to Americans, Canadians, etc., in their native country as foreigners. My coworker's sister married an American in America, and she told me her sister married a foreigner.

Yesterday we did the Grade 6 lesson about "Would you like to come to my house," which talks about the "we don't take off our shoes in the house." Anyway, my coteacher translated to the students that 외국인 don't take off their shoes in the house. Stuff like that, and stuff like 외국인 can't eat spicy food, get me. I mean, 99% of the world's population is 외. I don't think Koreans realize they do it, but when you couple the term with the attitudes we get here, it's very frustrating.

OH well, like I said, I appreciate when my bosses don't use the term, and I like when storekeepers or restaurant people don't refer to me as foreigner. I mean, back home I don't say "That immigrant ordered a hamburger."

[SirFink]

[indiercj]

[hubba bubba]

[indiercj]

[Qinella]

[peregrine981]

[MissSeoul]

Wae means outside
Guk means nation
In means person

Nothing offensive, it means he/she is from another country.

[hubba bubba]

OK, maybe not overtly racist, but is it condescending then??? Maybe that's what I'm getting at.