Korean Job Discussion Forums

[OptimalOptimus]

Expatriates, et al,

A few months ago, I sent this letter to the BIE, the organization that decides what city will host a World Expo event. I share it with the forum now as an example of some of the challenges foreigners face in Korea, and the difficulty Korea is having with itself as it endeavors to become "international." I'm not a bitter foreigner, and I like Korea fine enough. But the issue isn't whether foreigners (often informed by racist and Westernized views of other cultures in which they find themselves) "like" Korea, but whether Korea is seriously engaging the problems of internationalization that occurs in a modern society. Enjoy. Discuss.

BIE Committee, Et al,

I appreciate your reading my letter of concern. I understand that at this late date, it may be difficult to alter plans for where the 2012 International Expo should be held. But as a citizen of the world, I must fervently, earnestly, and sincerely ask you NOT to consider Yeosu, South Korea, as a reasonable, viable choice for your prestigious expo.

My name is ...... and I'm a writer and educator. Currently, I am a university lecturer and curriculum adviser at ....... University, in Yeosu City. I have a master's degree in English literature, and at 28 years of age, have been teaching English my entire adult life. In that time, I have lived for three years in Japan, one year in China, and of course, I'm now in Yeosu Korea.

As a racial "minority," I understand, quite pointedly, the problems of marginalization, ethnocentrism, xenophobia, and racism that can and is part of the foreign national's experience in living abroad. China, Japan, and Korea can all present great excitement, enrichment, and serious challenges to the outsider. But never, in all my years of traveling and living throughout Asia, have I experienced the level of overt, even physically violent racism, until coming to Korea.

For a brief time earlier this year, I worked in Ilsan. Because my skin is dark, parents did not want me to teach their children. This, along with the illegal withholding of insurance funds at the KoreaPolySchool, quickened me to leave Korea. I returned to Korea for a summer camp position at the prestigious English Village in Paju, which was a much more positive and enriching experience (and one where I have received good recommendations for future employment at the Village).

I then received a lectureship at ...... The university and the students are wonderful, kind, warm, engaging, and intelligent. The city of Yeosu, however, has proven to be a bastion of cruelty, malice, and fear in regards to foreigners at some establishments in Yeosu. Several dance clubs (a venue that those in their 20s, upon visiting the Expo, may want to explore) refused the entrance of me and my other fellow lecturers simply because we were not Korean. I had a Korean student with me, who translated what one particular bar manager at a club called J.J. Mahooney's was saying. The manager said that "we were foreign, and that we frightened Korean patrons," "that our presence may encourage future visits by foreigners," and that "we were not allowed to talk to other Koreans, male or female, because we were not Korean."

Each time I have tried to go to this club, I eventually called the police, who forced the club to let me in, since the club's reasoning behind their prohibition of foreigners was illogical and overtly racist. This was after being pushed out of the club on a particular occasion, breaking my new Gucci glasses and my business bag in the process. Yes, the managers forcibly and physically removed me from the club on several occasions, simply because I was foreign!

These are not isolated incidents. Several entertainment establishments in Yeosu do not allow foreigners, or look very poorly upon their existence, and have said, quite openly, as much. Yeosu's geographic isolation from other major Korean cities, like Seoul, Pusan, and Daegu, has allowed it to maintain a kind of cultural stagnation, like a poor city in the Deep South of the United States. Restaurants, hotels, and entertainment venues, as of 2007, are far, far, far from being of a sophisticated level, and even transportation out of Yeosu to other cities is problematic. (There is no train line from Yeosu to Busan, for example, and Yeosu is not part of the KTX line, so express service via train to other cities isn't possible from Yeosu, presently).

However, transportation infrastructure, accommodations, and venues can be created and upgraded rather easily (if not expensively). The mindset of the people of Yeosu, or some citizens and organizations thereof, is a different matter. I have found, in general, that Korea wants to claim internationalization and sophistication for the economic and national pride benefits that such things ensue, but does not want to seriously engage its own biases, racisms, xenophobia, and ethnocentrism that impede said internationalization and sophistication. The labor of becoming a welcoming, international city is not merely or mainly a physical uplift of the community, through new roads, rails, and hotels. The labor of internationalization is most importantly an intellectual and spiritual endeavor. Yeosu, in particular, and Korea, in general, has not seriously done the intangible work necessary to be considered international in scope or sophisticated in view. I fervently protest Yeosu as a viable candidate for the 2012 Expo, in the hopes that future foreigners, law-abiding, well-educated, and well-meaning, are not traumatized by Yeosu's lack of true acceptance and tolerance of other people's racial and ethnic backgrounds. Thank you for your time and consideration.

[tob55]

I wholeheartedly sympathize with you situation as a person. Unfortunately, the considerations of the BIE will not include concerns over some of the issues you have raised in your letter. While everything you say has relevant bearing on what takes place in Korea to a large extent, your voice unfortunately will be drowned out by the large contingent of International promoters who use their money to influence rather than having sound judgment. Sorry for your pain, and the letter is a rather poignant example of racism, but it will achieve little other than a "thank you for writing us" response.

[faster]

They will think you're a weirdo, getting your complaints off your chest to an international organization instead of a friend, relative, lover, or shrink.

I believe all you wrote and see your point, but they probably won't even finish reading it. It's just not appropriate.

[laogaiguk]

While I absolutely, definitely, 100% and whole heartedly (sp?) understand all that, in some ways it's good for places like that to actually get these things. Sometimes it's a forced kick in the ass (in a sense). Imagine if the Olympics hadn't of come here in 88 and the Olympics in Beijing (while most of the efforts might be superficial on the most part) will still see some of those changes stay around after.

[OptimalOptimus]

Thanks for all of your support. Laogaiguk may actually be right though...it may help Yeosu. Tob55..I did receive a response a week later....here's their reply...I can't figure out whether you were right about a cursory response or only half right.:

Dear Mr. ......,



We would like to acknowledge receipt of your email of November 19, 2007 describing the difficulties that you have encountered in the city of Yeosu. Please rest assured that we will inform the Korean authorities of these problems, so that they may take the necessary steps to try and solve them.



Yours sincerely,



Anca A.

International Exhibitions Bureau



Bureau International des Expositions

34, Avenue d'I�na

Paris 75116



Tel: +33 1 45 00 38 63

Fax: + 33 1 45 00 96 15

[Roch]

Thanks for sharing your letter with us.

[tob55]

OptimalOptimus Wrote:

[suneV]