Korean Job Discussion Forums

Canuckophile · Joined: 30 Jan 2003

This is second-hand, so bear with me ...

A young Korean man who's lived in the US for 10 years came back to teach, save up the sheckels. Maybe 26 years old - 9 months into his contract - no problems - kids and parents loved him.

Suddenly one parent accuses him of child molestation - apparently demands money from the school, which backs teacher (who denies anything) and refuses to pay. Then other parents coalesce around the one parent and ALL demand ALL their tuition refunded (3 years worth - this is a kindie hogwon). It's in a wealthy area and tuitiion is 400,000W a month.

The whole thing smells -- apparently the teacher taught in a very conspicious spot, often with door open - often with a co-teacher in the room. No problems ever with the kids being scared or uncomfortable around him..

He's already been tried and convicted - awaiting sentencing. He's basically a poor kid (father's a taxi driver; may be divorced from mother, who is still in US) and no money for good attorney. Trial and conviction took one day.. dunno if an appeal is possible or not.

I think this SUCKS - at the very least, it could not have been a very thorough investigation, and the parents' motives are, ahem, more than a little suspect.

ANY ADVICE - this should be one for the higher courts to review - or maybe the newspapers?????

HELP FAST the poor guy will be sentenced fairly soon, I suspect.

SERIOUS REPLIES ONLY - no need to moan and groan about Korea if you don't have useful advice.

I'm planning to visit him at the prison, if I can find it. I know one of the teachers he worked with and learned the story this past weekend. This teacher is dead certain the guy didn't do it - but visiting hours are only on weekdays so he can't even see him...plus this has thrown everything else into a tizzy - the school is shutting down as a result of it. (There was supposed to have been some English language coverage somewhere - but I couldn't find it - maybe in late October - the arrest was Oct 19 )

THANKS.
CANUCKOPHILE

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

ChuckECheese · Joined: 20 Jul 2006

Yeah. If he's an American citizen, he can get U.S. consular's assistance.

If not, all he can do is hire a good lawyer and file for appeal in the higher court.

It's unfortunate that in Korea, they don't have jury system and the suspects are considered guilty until proven innocent, but not the other way around.

tomato · Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 12:55 am Post subject:

I have done library research on the personality correlates of sexual abusers.
I made careful note of the documentation, and it is mostly from the professional literature.
If your friend does not fit those personality correlates, that might help his case.
If you think it might, write back.

braunshade · Joined: 19 Apr 2006 Location: Somewhere better!

Which hogwan was it?

bellum99 · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: don't need to know

PRAY to the gods of academy heaven. It will not go to trial because of the shame but the parents are trying to grab money. He must quit his job and go home right now. Go home right now to America and it is unlikely that they will try to bring him back. If he is a fake Korean-American then he is dead in the water...a lot of Koreans say they are Korean-American to teach English but they are not.

spliff · Joined: 19 Jan 2004 Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand

^ Quit his job? The dude is already in jail.

ChuckECheese · Joined: 20 Jul 2006

bellum99 · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: don't need to know

Missed the convicted part....
Well it sounds like a Korean problem to me. He must be Korean and he was convicted in a Korean court and will be sentenced by a Korean judge. Sounds like was guilty.
That's why you should always be sure that there is not one hint of improper behaviour...

English Slave Manual
________________________
Rule 1: Always obey the owner.

Rule 2: No matter what happens..the owner is correct.

Rule 3: Don't shag the students.

jmbran11 · Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Location: U.S.

Unfortunately, this is not helpful to the OP's friend, but the idea that the American consulate will get you out of legal trouble is unlikely. Even the embassy's website says they will not become involved in domestic legal cases; they will only provide a list of English-speaking attorneys. There are many Americans in jails all over the world with no help from the government entities abroad. Generally, unless it's a political issue, they won't do anything.

One idea might be to generate more publicity. Attract as much media attention as possible. Perhaps public outrage would pressure the sentencing authorities. If the guy is a U.S. citizen, this is really the only way to get the government involved. Get media attention in the U.S. Portray the parents as greedy liars who are willing to ruin a man's life for a couple of thousand dollars (if this is true). Demand fair treatment for foreigners in Korea. Organize a boycott for future teachers. It would take a lot of effort, so you (we) have to decide how far we would be willing to go to protect one of our own.

red dog · Joined: 31 Oct 2004

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

My advice: get more solid information about a case before discussing it with a bunch of strangers over the Internet. If he had been convicted and imprisoned there would no doubt be a link to a news source the OP could post.

stevemcgarrett · Joined: 24 Mar 2006

Well, IF this is true it stinks to high heaven.

But having a good friend whose son is a consular officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, I can say without hesitation that his chances of getting the embassy staff to intervene are about as good as North Korea ending its nuclear weapons program unilaterally.

Beyond that, I don't know what to recommend but somebody needs to stand up for this guy if he's innocent.

A question: why haven't the school owners tenaciously fought this whole thing and come to his aid to clear his name and perhaps recover their honor (if not their money) in the process?

Man, this case would even irk Wo Fat.

ChopChaeJoe · Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Location: Seoul

Sometimes people aren't who we think they are. Some people have doubl identitis and when they come together the result is heartbreak for all.

It seems unlikely that a parent would make something like this up, and that other parents would jump on some kind of sick bandwagon.

You should try to contact all of the guy's friends to see what they can do. I doubt anyone here can ameliorate the situation for th chap.

poet13 · Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:46 pm Post subject:

This smells funny in more ways than one. The parents smell funny, the hakwon smells funny, and I hate to say it, but the teacher too. It would stink less if the kids were teeny-boppers, but if they are kindy I wouldn't go near it with a ten foot pole. Teen girls might make something up if they got bent at the teacher, but if a kindy went home with a tale of something innapropriate, sexual or otherwise, I would be very concerned.
Either way the teacher is f-ed. Guilty until proven innocent and all that.